In a Tuesday morning tweet, President Donald Trump again directly pressured Vice President Mike Pence to reject the Electoral College’s vote during a tallying procedure on Wednesday.
"The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors," Trump tweeted just after 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
There’s no evidence that any Electoral College voters were chosen “fraudulently” — federal and state officials have not disclosed any evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election in any state. In addition, Pence has little role in Wednesday's meeting outside of counting votes.
The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2021
On Wednesday, in his role as President of the Senate, Pence will preside over the official counting of the Electoral College vote. Pence’s role in Wednesday’s meeting is largely procedural, but Trump has continuously pushed Pence use the meeting as an attempt to overturn the election.
According to CNN, Pence has walked the President through his role in Wednesday's meeting, but Trump has continued to push Pence to act outside the constitution.
Trump also publicly pressured Pence to act during a rally in Georgia on Monday night.
"I hope Mike Pence comes through for us, I have to tell you," Trump said. "Of course, if he doesn't come through, I won't like him as much."
CNN reports that Pence is not expected to act outside his role as Senate President, which is spelled out in the Constitution.
Here's how Wednesday's meeting will work.
On Dec. 14 — days after all 50 states certified the results of their elections — the Electoral College upheld president-elect Joe Biden’s 306-222 victory over Trump in the general election.
Wednesday’s Congressional procedure is typically a little more than a rubber stamp that confirms the Electoral College vote. However, Trump and his supporters have floated tomorrow’s meeting as a potential way to overturn the results of the election.
On Wednesday Pence will open each state’s sealed certificates, which contain the results of their Electoral College votes. All the votes will be announced and counted — unless there is a recognized objection.
Twelve Republican Senators and dozens of Republican House members have promised to raise objections to the election results of several swing states. Should that happen, voting is halted and both chambers will hold up to two hours of debate on the objection.
For an entire state’s electoral votes to be dismissed, both a majority of the House and the Senate must agree to the objection. That’s unlikely to happen on Wednesday — Democrats currently control the House of Representatives, and several Republican Senators, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have already said they oppose the objections.
Wednesday’s joint session of Congress will begin at 1 p.m. Should objections be raised regarding the results of several swing states, the session could stretch well into Thursday morning.