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Outgoing vice president Mike Pence would be presiding over the joint session of Congress and the Senate to formally go over the electoral votes for both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. In another desperate attempt to stay in power, Trump continues to pressure Pence.
After weeks of unsuccessful lawsuits in the swing states to contest election results, Trump and his allies have now turned to the joint session in an attempt to overturn the election. As Pence is presiding over the proceedings that will inevitably not have any bearing on Biden’s victory, Trump continues to insist that Pence has the authority to reject electors and decertify election results. Pence does not have the authority to do so, and neither does the Senate or the Congress.
The outgoing vice president finds himself in a tough spot, especially as Trump’s behavior has become increasingly erratic following his election loss. Many of Trump’s allies are also counting on him to overturn the results, but Pence has reportedly made clear that he has no power to change the outcome. However, this also puts Pence’s aspirations of a 2024 White House run at risk.
“He can decertify the results or send them back to the states for change and certification,” said Trump in a statement Tuesday, hours after having lunch with the vice president. “He can also decertify the illegal and corrupt results and send them to the House of Representatives for the one vote for one state tabulation.” People familiar with the matter have revealed that leading up to the joint session, Pence was already studying the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which is what governs the proceedings.
Following the acts of insurrection incited by Trump onto his supporters, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have locked Trump out of his accounts. Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol, forcing the joint session into a temporary halt with some lawmakers evacuating or hiding in offices. Twitter hid three of Trump’s tweets, including his video message where he repeats his widely-refuted claims of winning the election rather than Biden. Twitter flagged down the posts, citing the repeated violation of the platform’s civic integrity policy and warned that it may permanently suspend him from the platform should he commit more violations in the future.
