January 6, 2021

Mike Pence’s Electoral Predicament

The vice president is both thoughtful and capable, but he’s powerless to overturn the election singlehandedly.

Mike Pence is in a tough spot. The toughest of spots. He’s been an exemplary vice president and the unsung hero of the Trump administration. He’s been loyal to the letter and dignified at every turn, and his selection by Donald Trump was the best decision that then-candidate Trump ever made.

Now, however, at a joint session of Congress, Pence is being asked to do the impossible: reject the electors chosen by certain states during today’s roll call, and thereby singlehandedly upend the 2020 presidential election.

“States want to correct their votes, which they now know were based on irregularities and fraud, plus corrupt process never received legislative approval,” tweeted President Trump this morning. “All Mike Pence has to do is send them back to the States, AND WE WIN. Do it Mike, this is a time for extreme courage!”

“The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors,” President Trump tweeted yesterday. But Jay Sekulow, President Trump’s personal attorney and lead outside counsel during the impeachment hearings, disagrees.

“Some have speculated that the vice president could simply say, ‘I’m not going to accept these electors,’ that he has the authority to do that under the Constitution,” Sekulow said Tuesday during an in-depth discussion on his radio show. “I actually don’t think that’s what the Constitution has in mind. If that were the case, any vice president could refuse any election. It’s more of a ministerial procedural function.”

In short, Vice President Pence has the constitutional power to open the envelopes containing each state’s slate of electors. The clerk, however, does the counting. As the Washington Examiner’s Mica Soellner reports, “Pence will preside over a roll call of states. … If at least one senator and one House member object to the results from a state, a debate up to two hours long can take place regarding the results. Each chamber will then vote separately to certify or object to those results.”

Beyond simply presiding over the events, however, Mike Pence is powerless under the Constitution.

A more substantive approach is the Electoral Commission being called for by Texas Senator Ted Cruz and 10 Senate colleagues. In a joint statement issued Sunday, the senators noted the “unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities” that poisoned the 2020 presidential election.

They also noted the troubling reality of recent polling: “39% of Americans believe ‘the election was rigged.’ That belief is held by Republicans (67%), Democrats (17%), and Independents (31%).” (Let those numbers sink in, and try to contemplate the deeply divided nation that a Biden-Harris administration will attempt to govern.)

The senators’ proposal cites the disputed 1876 Hayes-Tilden presidential race as precedent, when, “following serious allegations of fraud and illegal conduct … Congress did not ignore those allegations, nor did the media simply dismiss those raising them as radicals trying to undermine democracy. Instead, Congress appointed an Electoral Commission-consisting of five Senators, five House Members, and five Supreme Court Justices-to consider and resolve the disputed returns.”

The senators continue: “Congress should immediately appoint an Electoral Commission, with full investigatory and fact-finding authority, to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states. Once completed, individual states would evaluate the Commission’s findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed.”

Cruz and his colleagues are realistic about their chances, but a 10-day audit could at least deliver some much-needed transparency to our broken election system — a system in which at least 39% of the American people have no confidence.

We’re not sure whether the senators’ efforts will come to any good, but a constitutionally dubious procedural gambit by Vice President Pence certainly isn’t the answer.

“Mike Pence is a man of honor, character and honesty,” President Trump said in 2016, as he introduced his running mate. We agree wholeheartedly, regardless of how today’s events unfold.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.