Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., challenged attempts by Republican lawmakers to stop the counting of electoral votes cast for President-elect Joe Biden.
“The Congress does not determine the outcomes of elections, the people do. The Congress is not endowed with the power to administer elections. Our states are given that power,” Schumer said on the Senate floor after lawmakers objected to the electoral votes from Arizona during a joint session of Congress. “By the end of the proceedings today, it will be confirmed once again, something that is well known and well settled,” Schumer continued.
The session, a necessary and usually routine step in the presidential election process, is in the spotlight this year because dozens of Republicans in the House and Senate are objecting to results in some states.
Biden won the election with 306 Electoral College votes after states certified their results, but President Donald Trump and many of his supporters have refused to accept his loss, making false claims of widespread voter fraud without evidence.
Now, Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress are making a last attempt to dispute the result, forcing hours of debate in both chambers. But a bipartisan majority of lawmakers have said they are prepared to accept Biden’s win.
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