House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 3, 2020.
U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Sunday he supports challenging the Electoral College vote when a joint session of Congress is held Wednesday.
“I think it’s right that we have a debate. I mean, now that we’ve seen that the senators are going to oppose it and the House is going to oppose it, what else do we have to do to correct the election?” McCarthy told The Hill on Sunday.
It is unclear whether McCarthy will be one of the opponents in the House.
There are currently a number of lawmakers ready to challenge the Electoral College vote results in the disputed states. In the House, the effort will be led by Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ariz.), who told the Epoch Times in November that he is mounting a challenge. Last week, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Okla.) became the first senator to join the challenge, as the action requires at least one House member and one senator to carry it out.
At least dozens of House Republicans have now said they will join Brooks’ initiative, including prominent lawmakers such as Jim Jordan (R-Okla.). A group of senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have also said they will oppose the Electoral College vote if key states do not conduct emergency audits.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (D-N.Y.) said he believes more than 100 Republican House members will participate, and another report, citing anonymous sources, said the number is already more than 140.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called on Republicans not to challenge the vote, and his second-in-command, Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), has said the challenge will fail.
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House, sent a memo to lawmakers urging them not to challenge the electoral votes. Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, said the challenge would cast doubt on the U.S. election system, though she did not mention pending allegations of voter fraud and irregularities during the Nov. 3 presidential election.
“As you will see, there are substantial grounds for concern that congressional opposition will set a precedent here. By opposing the Electoral College rolls, members inevitably assert that Congress has the power to overturn elections and overturn state and federal courts.” She wrote.
“This opposition sets an extraordinarily dangerous precedent by threatening to steal the states’ clear constitutional responsibility to choose the president and instead vest it in Congress. This directly contradicts the clear text of the Constitution and our core beliefs as Republicans,” she added.
But Cheney noted that Democrats in the House and Senate, too, have opposed the electoral vote in previous elections, such as during the 2004 presidential election between former President George W. Bush and Democrat John Kerry.
McCarthy made the comments after being re-elected as House Minority Leader. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was re-elected as speaker of the House on Sunday.
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