WA Republican lawmakers divided on Trump’s final push to overturn election

With Congress set to preside over the final tally of Electoral College votes Wednesday, a sizable portion of Republican lawmakers have voiced their intention to protest the count. Whether all of Washington state’s own Republican representatives will join that effort, though, remains unclear.

Washington state has three Republicans in Congress: Dan Newhouse, Jaime Herrera Beutler, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Of those three, Newhouse is the only one to rebuke the president regarding Wednesday’s largely ceremonial process, emphasizing that “we must count the electoral votes submitted by the states.”

“The Constitution is clear,” he said in a joint letter signed with seven other Congressional Republicans. “States select electors. Congress does not.”

Tomorrow, I will join @RepThomasMassie & my fellow constitutional conservatives in sending a letter to House leadership echoing these sentiments re: the certification of Electoral College votes on Wednesday. https://t.co/Gb0QKGNvFE

— Rep. Dan Newhouse (@RepNewhouse) January 4, 2021

Both McMorris Rodgers and Newhouse had signed onto a legal brief supporting a Texas lawsuit in December, which levied unsubstantiated accusations of voter fraud in Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and called on the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a combined 62 electoral votes that went to President-elect Joe Biden.

With that lawsuit quickly rejected by the Supreme Court, it would appear as though Newhouse has now accepted Biden’s electoral victory. McMorris Rodgers appears to not have been similarly swayed though, issuing a statement Tuesday evening stating her intent to join Republicans in the House objecting to the certification of the Electoral College results.

“I’m planning to vote to object tomorrow, to give voice to millions of Americans that do not have trust and confidence in this election, and to ensure the integrity of our election,” she told the Spokesman-Review. “My vote is not one to overturn the election, but it’s to shed light on the questions that millions of Americans have that have not yet been answered.”

Rep. Herrera Beutler has been notably silent on any and all claims within her party of voter fraud since Election Day.

Meanwhile, President Trump has continued to put pressure on Vice President Pence — who will preside over Wednesday’s proceedings in a largely ministerial role — to overturn the will of the voters in battleground state’s Joe Biden won.

“I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you,” Trump said at a rally Monday night in Georgia.

Pence has spent hours huddling with the president, staff and the Senate parliamentarian. His office declined to discuss his plans heading into Wednesday’s count. But people close to the vice president stressed his respect for institutions and said they expect him to act in accordance with the law and hew to the Constitution.

Supporting the president’s efforts is a group of 14 Republican senators led by Sen. Josh Hawley, Sen. Ted Cruz, and more, all of whom have vowed to protest Wednesday’s final tally and push for a 10-day “emergency audit” of election results. At least 140 additional Republicans in the House of Representatives have also signed on to that effort.

UPDATE: This article was first published prior to McMorris Rodgers issuing a statement on her position regarding Wednesday’s certification. It has been updated to reflect the most recent information. 

Associated Press reporters Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin contributed to this report

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