Thirty-two members of Congress have signed a “Unity Commitment” pledging to respect the outcomes of the upcoming presidential election, certify the outcomes, and attend the inauguration whereas calling for calm and opposing associated political violence, based on a duplicate of the pledge obtained by Politico and launched on Friday.
Traditionally, certifying election outcomes has been a routine perform of Congress, carried out with out controversy or violence—till supporters of Donald Trump rioted on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Six of the 32 pledge’s signatories are Republicans, with most coming from swing districts. They’re Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, and Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, and Anthony D’Esposito, all from New York. The remaining 26 signatories are Democrats.
Bacon, who represents Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, organized the pledge with Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Bacon’s district is of bizarre significance to the 2024 election as a result of it exists in considered one of solely two states (together with Maine) that allocates a part of its Electoral Faculty vote primarily based on which candidate wins within the district. In 2020, President Joe Biden gained considered one of his 306 electoral votes from the district, defeating Donald Trump. And Bacon was reelected to his seat in 2022 by lower than 3 proportion factors.
Equally, Fitzpatrick, Lawler, Chavez-DeRemer, and D’Esposito gained by simply single digits that 12 months, although LaLota gained by 11 factors. Those that had been in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, additionally voted to certify Biden’s victory over Trump. In whole, 147 Republicans—139 within the Home, eight within the Senate—voted towards certifying the 2020 outcomes.
In all probability, the Republicans who signed the Unity Dedication face constituents who’re much less seemingly to purchase into the election denialism promoted by right-wing figures like Donald Trump.
In contrast, on the identical day the pledge was launched, Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin mentioned on CNN that he wouldn’t decide to certifying the outcomes. Mullin’s residence state has strongly supported Trump’s campaigns, with Trump profitable it by over 30 factors in 2020.
“I’m not going to sit up here and tell you what I’m going to do and not going to do until I see the results,” he advised CNN host Pamela Brown.
Mullin’s remarks observe Trump as soon as once more mendacity throughout Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris that he gained the 2020 race.
Trump’s operating mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, equally mentioned in a latest interview that he would have supported pretend electors in 2020 that falsely claimed Trump had gained, a course of which might have invalidated thousands and thousands of Biden-Harris votes.
Legislation enforcement officers not too long ago introduced enhanced safety procedures meant to forestall one other Jan. 6-style occasion. The Secret Service on Wednesday mentioned it had designated the upcoming certification of the presidential election as a “National Special Security Event,” following a request from Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Seven deaths have been tied to the 2021 assault, as have the assaults of no less than 174 cops. Trump was impeached for a second time and has been indicted for allegedly inciting the incident.
