Congressman Robert Aderholt (AL-04) on Saturday evening released a statement outlining his position on the role that Congress plays in certifying the electoral process.
“As Congress will soon be faced with the actual counting of various states’ electoral votes for the next president of the United States on January 6, it is imperative that members of Congress, like myself, look to the United States Constitution, and to the Electoral Act of 1887, to know how we should move forward,” said Aderholt, the dean of Alabama’s U.S. House delegation. “From examining these documents on my own, it is clear to me that Congress has the final review of the electoral process and this is not just a ceremonial act.”
Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) since the November 3 election has taken to the House floor in a series of speeches to emphasize that Congress has the final say in certifying the winner of each presidential election. Brooks is also leading the charge on an effort to exercise that responsibility and power this time around.
He and a large contingent of Republican members of the House plan to object to the electors from certain swing states who are set to give their Electoral College votes to Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday, January 6. First-term Congressmen Jerry Carl (AL-01) and Barry Moore (AL-02), whose respective terms are officially beginning Sunday upon the start of the 117th Congress, have voiced support for the Brooks-led effort. An objection to a specific state’s electors would set off two hours of debate and then a vote by each chamber on that respective state’s electors.
Aderholt in his statement added that “based on the overwhelming questions that have been raised about moving forward with the approval of the electors from the states, I have come to the conclusion, and agree with my fellow Alabamian, Rep. Mo Brooks, along with several my colleagues, that there are too many reports of serious fraud for this not to be debated in the House and Senate.”
In the upper chamber, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) this past week was the first to publicly confirm he would object to certain electors; on Saturday, an additional 11 colleagues, led by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and including Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), said they would vote to reject the electors from certain states unless and until Congress appoints a commission to “conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states.”
Aderholt voiced his support for that call.
“In addition, I also support the efforts by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, newly elected Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, and other Senators, to go a step further and create a bi-cameral commission to more closely examine the election results,” he stated. “Furthermore, I call on other members of the House of Representatives to join these efforts as well.”
“We owe it to the American people to investigate what exactly transpired during this election year, and if state laws were broken by activist judges who decided to make election law on their own,” Aderholt concluded. “No matter who is sworn in on January 20th, whether it be Joe Biden or Donald Trump, the winner needs to know, and should want to know, if the process was carried out fairly and according to individual state law, which the Constitution demands.”
Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
