What to expect from Pa. Congress members in Electoral College count

It’s the final step in certifying Joe Biden as the next president of the United States, the constitutionally required Jan. 6 Electoral College vote count being held Wednesday as part of a joint session of Congress.

But some Republican lawmakers will use the occasion to make one last attempt to overturn the outcome of the election by objecting to Joe Biden’s Electoral College win.

The joint session of Congress — the House of Representatives and the Senate — is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the House chamber.

Most experts say they have no chance of being successful. Or as South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune put it, “in the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog.”

While many pundits and most members of Congress have concluded that this is a political ploy, it isn’t stopping some members of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation from supporting the move. One of them, Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican from Butler, continues to argue that the state’s mail-in voting law, part of the Act 77 reforms passed in October 2019, is unconstitutional.

“The reason there is a question about this, I think it’s overwhelming the fact that what took place in Pennsylvania, the fact that it started off with an unconstitutional act, I am bound by my oath of office to look at that,” Kelly told the Tribune-Review.

However, Rep. Mike Doyle, a Democrat from Forest Hills, called the effort Kelly and others are mounting a “charade” and said their strategy defies logic.

“(Act 77) was something that was approved by the Republican-led state legislature, almost unanimously. Then they had 120 days to appeal this act if they thought it was unconstitutional. Nobody did,” Doyle said. “The same ballot that they’re contesting for president had all of their names on it as well as the statewide office holders. It’s illogical for members of the Pennsylvania delegation to allow themselves to be sworn in and say that their elections are valid but the president’s isn’t.”

It’s not Kelly’s first swing at overturning Biden’s victory. In early December he led an attempt to stop Pennsylvania from finalizing Biden’s win in the state. It was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We didn’t lose a case. All we did was go to the court and ask them to hear what we wanted them to hear,” said Kelly. “The court decided on a 7-2 decision, an unelected and appointed-for-life court decided to walk away from a very important constitutional issue and decided just not to hear it.”

Kelly said he wants the Supreme Court to decide whether the justices want to hear his case by granting what is known as a writ of certiorari. But would he be going to these lengths if Donald Trump had won the election?

“If Donald Trump had won the election would I be taking this stand? No, I don’t think it would be me that was taking that stand,” Kelly said. “I’m sure we would have someone from the other side if people thought there were improprieties and irregularities. I think that there would certainly be people bringing that up.”

Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, a Republican from Peters, did not respond to interview requests but signed on to a joint statement with seven other members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, including Kelly. It said in part that “the state’s official certification of electors was based upon a flawed system and an inaccurate vote count. Thus, very possibly resulting in an erroneous certification.”

However, with no proof of election fraud to back their assertions, Rep. Conor Lamb, a Democrat from Mt. Lebanon, said he felt his colleagues were just “sucking up to Trump.”

“We have a responsibility to be honest with the American people,” Lamb said. “We all know that Joe Biden won and that he’s going to be the president. And I also think we have a responsibility to put the most important issues and problems up first.

“We’re in a situation now where we have an American dying of covid-19 almost every 30 seconds. And these guys are going to waste 36 or 48 hours occupying the Congress’ attention over something that’s not going to make a bit of difference and is not based on anything that’s true.”

While Southwestern Pennsylvania’s House delegation is split on the issue, Sens. Bob Casey, a Democrat, and Pat Toomey, a Republican, are showing a rare united front regarding Wednesday’s political theatrics.

“It’s total B.S.,” Casey said in a statement. “This effort is nothing more than a shameful and sorry attempt to overturn the will of Pennsylvania voters – the very constituents these elected officials have a responsibility to serve. Pennsylvania voted to deliver the commonwealth’s 20 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden, and that’s exactly what Congress will certify (Wednesday).”

In his statement, Toomey said a fundamental, defining feature of a democratic republic is the right of people to elect their own leaders.

“I voted for President Trump and endorsed him for re-election,” Toomey said. “But, on Wednesday, I intend to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others.”