WASHINGTON - The House pushed ahead Wednesday with legislation that would revamp the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election as lawmakers accelerate their response to the the Jan.
6, 2021, insurrection and Donald Trump’s failed attempt to remain in power.The legislation would overhaul an arcane 1800s-era statute known as the Electoral Count Act that governs, along with the U.S.
Constitution, how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential election winners. The House planned a vote on the bill after an afternoon debate.While that process has long been routine and ceremonial, Trump and a group of his aides and lawyers tried to exploit loopholes in the law in an attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.The bill would set new parameters around the Jan.
6 joint session of Congress that happens every four years after a presidential election. The day turned violent last year after hundreds of Trump’s supporters interrupted the proceedings, broke into the building and threatened the lives of then-Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress.