More than a dozen Republicans across the House and Senate over the weekend attacked plans by their own colleagues to object to certifying 2020 election results, calling the effort ineffective, dangerous or lacking in evidence.
Why it matters: Although nearly all lawsuits brought by President Trump, his allies and his legal team to challenge election results have been dismissed, a group of Republican senators led by Ted Cruz says they will oppose certifying Joe Biden's win.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who joined Cruz on cable news last month to support Trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud, rebuked the Texan's plan to hold an emergency audit of election results as "more of a political dodge than an effective remedy."
- Graham said in a statement that Cruz's proposed commission "has zero chance of becoming reality" and is "not effectively fighting for President Trump," but added that he would "listen closely" to the challenges.
- He stressed that Republicans need to give "clear and convincing evidence" that state and federal courts, as well as state legislators, failed to act on investigations into election fraud — although Attorney General Bill Barr said that the Justice Department has not found any evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said "I think it's a very, very bad idea" on Sunday, adding that "this is bad for the country and bad for the party."
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) denounced the proposed commission as an "egregious ploy" that "dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic," arguing that the precedent would lead partisan lawmakers to "inevitably demand the same any...