Senate Plans Hearing On Voting Irregularity For Next Week — But It’s Too Late To Change Trump’s Electoral Loss

Topline

The Senate Homeland Security committee will hold a Dec. 16 hearing on election irregularities, committee chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Wednesday, another effort to spotlight unproven complaints about last month’s election that have almost universally fallen flat in court — but this hearing is taking place two days after the Electoral College meets on Monday, meaning it’s almost certainly too late to overturn President Donald Trump’s loss.

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

“The American people need more information,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “I’m not ready to just close, slam the book on this thing.”

Tangent

By the time Johnson holds his hearing, the Electoral College is expected to cement President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, so the hearing is likely to be little more than a symbolic gesture. Two days before the hearing takes place, electors in each state will meet to cast their Electoral College votes as required by federal law. Plus, this past Tuesday was the federal “safe harbor” deadline, which locked in nearly every state’s electoral picks and hampered any further legal challenges. Several high-profile Senate Republicans have framed the Electoral College vote as the end of the road for Trump’s increasingly tenuous legal efforts to reverse his defeat.

What To Watch For

Johnson has not ruled out objecting to the election results when Congress meets to formally count the Electoral College’s votes next month, telling reporters Wednesday “it depends what we find out.” A few House Republicans plan on objecting to pro-Biden electors, a last-ditch attempt to deprive Biden of an Electoral College majority, and they can force the House and Senate to vote on their objections if at least one senator joins them. But even if a senator joins this effort, it’s virtually guaranteed to fall flat unless majorities in both the Senate and the Democrat-controlled House somehow vote to toss out Biden’s electors.

Key Background

As Trump falsely insists last month’s election was stolen from him, most congressional Republicans have followed his lead by declining to recognize Biden as president-elect. Meanwhile, the president has doled out applause to Republicans who back up his claims and lashed out against elected officials who question him. Johnson has publicly sided with the former group: He has cast doubt about the election’s legitimacy, though one former GOP operative in Wisconsin claimed last week that Johnson has privately acknowledged Trump’s loss (Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment).

Further Reading

Trump Ally Pressing Ahead With Senate Probe of Alleged Voter Fraud (Bloomberg)