We the People: An 1887 law inspired the Jan. 6 assault. Some legislators think it's time to update it - Yahoo News

Jan. 9—Each week, The Spokesman-Review examines one question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens.

Today's question: Name one power of the U.S. Congress.

Most of the powers accorded to Congress by the U.S. Constitution are clear. For instance, only federal lawmakers can pass laws, approve treaties or declare war.

But can Congress choose the next president of the United States?

The assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, showed that one of Congress's roles needs to be better defined. On that day, lawmakers gathered at the Capitol to conduct what until then had been an uncontroversial formality: counting the results of the Electoral College, the system by which the United States chooses its next president.

After previous elections, members of Congress had convened to certify the Electoral College results with little fanfare, usually long after the losing presidential candidate had conceded. President Joe Biden had won 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232, but in the days leading up to Jan. 6, Trump's legal team argued that an 1887 law allowed then-Vice President Mike Pence — who as president of the Senate would preside over the count — to reject it and instead let Congress choose the next president.

In a memo, Trump lawyer John Eastman proposed a strategy that relied on ambiguity in the Electoral Count Act of 1887: Pence would reject the results from seven states where the Trump campaign falsely insisted massive voter fraud had occurred. That would leave neither candidate with the 270 electoral votes needed for a majority. Then Pence would invoke the 12th amendment, which in such a situation empowers the House of Representatives to choose the next president with each state's delegation having a single vote, controlled by the party that holds the majority of a state's delegation.

With Republicans controlling 26 of the 50 delegations, Eastman argued, those GOP lawmakers could make Trump president.

source: https://news.yahoo.com/people-1887-law-inspired-jan-035300194.html

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.