Senator Mitt Romney is facing a possible censure from other Utah Republicans at a GOP convention this weekend. (Photo by Senate Television via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — In a strongly worded statement on Saturday afternoon, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) denounced a decision by at least 11 of his GOP counterparts in the U.S. Senate to call into question the legitimacy of the presidential election results.
“The congressional power to reject electors is reserved for the most extreme and unusual circumstances. These are far from it,” Romney said.
Earlier Saturday, a coalition of senators announced that on Jan. 6, they would vote to reject electors from several U.S. states in order to keep the 2020 election from being certified. The move is led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
“We intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed sates as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite) unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed,” the senators wrote in a statement.
In opposition to the statements made by Cruz and others, Romney said an audit involving the U.S. Congress would not assuage the beliefs of some voters that the presidential election was flawed.
“My fellow Senator Ted Cruz and the co-signers of his statement argue that rejection of electors or an election audit directed by Congress would restore trust in the election,” Romney said.
“Nonsense. This argument ignores the widely perceived reality that Congress is an overwhelmingly partisan body; the American people wisely place greater trust in the federal courts where judges serve for life.”
On Wednesday, Jan. 6, Congress is expected to meet in a joint session to formally count the votes of the Electoral College.