Ted Cruz votes against bipartisan bill to prevent another Jan. 6

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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, broke from his personal get together in voting against a bipartisan bill that may bar him from singlehandedly objecting to presidential election outcomes, as he did on Jan. 6, 2021.

The bill, dubbed the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, goals to prevent a constitutional disaster just like the one that almost occurred on Jan. 6, 2021. It clarifies procedural ambiguities that former President Donald Trump tried to exploit in an try to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election.

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, sponsored the bill, and it has the assist of Democrats and Republicans alike. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, got here out assist on Tuesday, elevating the probability of passage. But throughout a Senate Rules Committee vote on the bill, Cruz objected, saying the bill undermines states’ constitutional autonomy in working their elections and due to this fact opens the door for voter fraud.

“This bill is a bad bill. This bill is bad law. It’s bad policy and it’s bad for democracy,” Cruz stated on the assembly.

“I understand why Democrats are supporting this bill,” he continued. “What I don’t understand is why Republicans are supporting it.”

The bill clarifies that the vp’s function in certifying Electoral College votes is totally ceremonial. It additionally raises the edge for objecting to election outcomes from a single member in every chamber to one-fifth of every chamber, primarily making Cruz’s Arizona objection vote meaningless.

It additionally clarifies the emergency conditions that enable a state to lengthen voting intervals, permits courts to power a governor to certify electors and stops state legislatures from creating their very own slate of electors.

Cruz was the one Republican on the committee to oppose the bill Tuesday, with 14 different senators on the committee, which incorporates each events’ Senate leaders, voting to advance it. The bill now heads to the total Senate, the place it’ll possible meet overwhelming bipartisan assist.

Cruz performed a key function on the day of the rebel. Both he and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri led campaigns to encourage members to object to the certification of the election outcomes.

Meanwhile, Trump and his allies have been additionally pressuring Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the Senate, to refuse to certify the outcomes, whipping protesters stationed outdoors of the Capitol right into a frenzy till they finally broke by way of a line of police and stormed into the constructing.

Even after the assault, Cruz voted against certifying the election ends in Arizona, repeating Trump speaking factors that solid doubt on the state’s outcomes.

The remainder of the Senate overwhelmingly voted against Cruz’s objection, and the votes have been licensed.

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas’ senior Republican senator, voted to reject Cruz’s objection on Jan. 6. But most Texas Republicans in the House voted with Cruz on the time.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, was a part of the working group for the bill and stated it was the product of weeks of negotiations and consultations with authorized specialists. McConnell stated he was “proud to vote for it and help advance it.”

(*6*) he stated.

The House handed its personal model of the bill final week, which included extra stringent guardrails, together with a one-third minimal threshold for members to object to election outcomes. The variations between the variations have been a supply of pressure between the 2 chambers, with McConnell saying the Senate model “is the only chance to get an outcome and make law.”

Cruz apart, all different members of the Senate committee praised one another for reaching a bipartisan answer. The assembly closed to applause.

“This isn’t just another vote at another markup. This vote is about living up to our oath of office,” Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, who beforehand served as California’s secretary of state, stated in the course of the assembly. “That includes working to ensure an insurrection, that an attack on our democracy never occurs again.”