Last month, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was the first Republican senator to commit to objecting to the election results, specifically in Pennsylvania, while a group of GOP senators led by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Saturday said they would object to the certification unless there was an emergency 10-day audit of the results by an electoral commission.
GOP SENATORS, LED BY CRUZ, TO OBJECT TO ELECTORAL COLLEGE CERTIFICATION, DEMAND EMERGENCY AUDIT
But House Republican sources told Fox News Sunday that there is a growing concern that the Republican senators will not object to enough states to make a difference in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which has been called in favor of President-elect Joe Biden since November.
Two House Republican officials told Fox News that more than 100 GOP House members will object to the election results in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Wisconsin.
"If the Republican senators don’t object to enough states, the entire effort on Jan. 6th is worthless," a House Republican official told Fox News. "To have any chance of impacting the outcome of the 2020 election, the Republican senators must join Republican House members in objecting at least three states and ideally all six states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin.
"If Republican senators only object to one state, Joe Biden will undoubtedly secure enough electoral votes to become president," the official continued, adding that "the pressure really is on the Republican senators like Ted Cruz to join House Republicans here."
"If they don’t, it will be a great disappointment to the president, their constituents, and ensure a Joe Biden victory," the official said.
Cruz, on Saturday, was joined by Republican Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.; James Lankford of Oklahoma; Steve Daines of Montana; John Kennedy of Louisiana; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Mike Braun of Indiana; as well as Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming; Roger Marshall of Kansas; Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
The group claims that the Nov. 3 election "featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud and illegal conduct." So far, those claims of widespread fraud that could affect the results have not been substantiated in the courts or by state and local election officials.
If that doesn't happen, the senators intend to vote against certification.
"Accordingly, we intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed," they said in the statement.
A source familiar with the effort by the GOP senators told Fox News that it was Cruz who orchestrated the push for the audit just days before the joint session of Congress on Wednesday to officially approve the Electoral College votes electing former Vice President Joe Biden.
The senators and senators-elect are calling for Congress to appoint a commission to conduct a 10-day emergency audit of the election returns in states where the results are disputed. They cite as precedent the 1877 race between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford Hayes, in which there were allegations of fraud in multiple states.
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