U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the case against Vice President Mike Pence (exclusive authority). The case was previously dismissed by the district court and appeals court.
Gohmert, the Arizona Republican electors and other plaintiffs filed an emergency petition asking Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to intervene in the case against Pence. Alito was appointed by former President George W. Bush Jr.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that Pence has “exclusive authority” to reject the electoral votes of the disputed states in a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6. The Vice President’s power to do so is limited by several provisions of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which violate the U.S. Constitution.
The 86-page lawsuit requires an urgent response from the Supreme Court, given that Jan. 6 is the date of the joint session of Congress.
The plaintiffs say that without interim relief, Pence would have invoked the unconstitutional elements of the Elections Count Act, and that the 2020 election would not have been amended – and that if (Pence) had chosen the original unsuccessful candidate for president, then even if impeachment had taken place later, it would not have been possible to put the actual winner of the election into office.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle dismissed Gohmert’s lawsuit in early December, saying Gohmert’s allegations were, at best, about institutional damage to the House of Representatives.
Gohmert responded by saying, “Under the confirmed Supreme Court’s authority, it’s no longer sufficient for support, and if I don’t do it, no one else will.”
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (U.S. Court) rejected the appeal Jan. 2.
On the day of Gohmert’s appeal to the Supreme Court and before the joint session of Congress, Pence issued a statement saying he did not believe he had “unilateral authority” to reject the Electoral College vote.
He said, “In my considered judgment, my oath to support and uphold the Constitution does not give me the authority to unilaterally decide which Electoral College votes should be counted and which should not.”
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