Fate of Electoral Count Reform Act now tied to omnibus spending bill
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Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are running out of time to pass legislation to close loopholes in the electoral vote-counting process before the end of the year, when Democrats will relinquish control over the House of Representatives, making it more difficult to pass.
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) signaled that the legislation reforming the Electoral Count Act, the 1887 law that former President Donald Trump and his supporters attempted to exploit to overturn the 2020 election, would make it into a must-pass appropriations bill that lawmakers plan to send to the president’s desk before they break for Christmas.
“I expect an omnibus will contain properties both sides want to see passed into law, including more funding for Ukraine and the Electoral Count Act,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Tuesday.
The legislation was created directly in response to the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, clarifying the constitutional role of the vice president in certifying presidential electors is purely ceremonial. The bill would also safeguard against efforts by state officials to submit an alternative slate of electors for certification. The Electoral Count Reform Act, spearheaded by Republican Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), has strong bipartisan support, with 15 Republicans signing on as co-sponsors, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
SENATE WEIGHS CHANGES TO ELECTORAL COUNT ACT
“There are a lot of Republicans that support the ECA reform in the omnibus, including Sen. McConnell. We would not consider that to be a ‘poison pill’ that could tank support,” said a GOP Senate aide who requested anonymity to speak candidly on the prospects of the bill passing.
The bill’s passage in the Senate hinges on whether appropriators are able to finalize and pass a long-term spending bill. McConnell said any deal on a long-term spending bill must be brought to a vote by Dec. 22 or it would have to wait until next year. Supporters of the bill say it must pass this year, given the GOP’s takeover of the House.
“We worked really hard to get the ECA compromised. I think it’s essential in cutting down the changes of wrong precedent being put in the White House in 2025,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told reporters on Thursday. “I was nervous that we weren’t going to get ECA across the finish line. I’m glad that it looks as if it is part of a path to be part of the budget,” he added.
The Senate version of the bill doesn’t go quite as far as the Presidential Election Reform Act in the House, sponsored by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), that passed in September in a near-party-line vote, with every Democrat and just nine Republicans voting in favor.
The House’s version of the legislation has very narrow grounds for objecting to electoral slates, whereas that is not specifically defined in the Senate version of the bill. Additionally, the House version of the legislation said federal courts have jurisdiction in litigation regarding the certification of presidential elections, but the Senate bill does not make that clarification.
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Both Lofgren and Cheney sent a letter late last week to Manchin, Collins, and the Senate leadership in an effort to clarify those issues, according to reporting by Punchbowl. According to House aides, there have not been any changes to the Senate bill since the letter was sent.
Organizations and experts on both sides of the political spectrum are advocating the bill’s passage in an attempt to prevent another insurrection in the future. The bill has support from the left-leaning Center for American Progress and the conservative magazine National Review.