These are the Senate Republicans who oppose GOP efforts to challenge Biden’s victory

A dozen Senate Republicans are planning to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, but some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have opposed the GOP efforts.

A group of Republicans led by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Sunday that they are voting against certification unless a commission is established to conduct an audit of the election results. The effort is not expected to go far because Democrats control the U.S. House of Representatives and nearly every Senate Republican would have to challenge certification.

But the divide puts Senate Republicans in the position of having to choose between backing Trump or contesting the results of the election.

Trump has refused to concede the election and has made baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud.

Here are the Senate Republicans who oppose the GOP challenge:

▪ McConnell urged Republicans in December not to object to Congress’ certification, The Hill reported. He said during a caucus call that objection “isn’t in the best interest of everybody.”

“Many of us hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20,” McConnell said during a speech on the Senate floor in December, according to The New York Times. “The Electoral College has spoken. So today, I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.”

▪ Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, an ally of President Donald Trump, said Sunday that he was not going to object to the counting of electoral votes. Cotton said in a statement that while he had concerns about how the election was conducted, he thought it was up to the states and the courts to decide elections.

“The Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states — not Congress. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College — not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts — not Congress.”

“Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the state,” he said.

▪ Sen. John Thune, the second-highest-ranking GOP leader, said the effort by some Republican senators was “going down like a shot dog,” The Washington Post reported.

“I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense to put everybody through this when you know what the ultimate outcome is going to be,” he said.

▪ A bipartisan group of senators, including Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, affirmed Biden’s victory in a statement on Sunday.

“All challenges through recounts and appeals have been exhausted. At this point, further attempts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 Presidential election are contrary to the clearly expressed will of the American people and only serve to undermine Americans’ confidence in the already determined election results,” the senators said. “The voters have spoken, and Congress must now fulfill its responsibility to certify the election results.”

▪ Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt recognized Biden as president-elect after the Electoral College vote in December.

“We’ve now gone through the constitutional process and the electors have voted, so there’s a president-elect,” Blunt said.

▪ Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina told Politico “no” when asked if he would join the GOP effort to challenge Biden’s victory.

▪ Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said in an interview with Politico on Friday, “There’s good constitutional and other legal grounds to say: You had your day in court, 60 different lawsuits in state courts, you had a chance to appeal those to the Supreme Court, and as I read the law once a state certifies its electoral vote it’s conclusive.”

▪ A representative for Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa told KCCI that he “has no plans to object to the Electoral College vote.”

▪ Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska affirmed Biden’s win in a Dec. 4 letter obtained by The Washington Post.

“I look forward to working with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to keep our nation safe, update our infrastructure, and provide opportunities to families,” she wrote.

▪ South Dakota GOP Sen. Mike Rounds said: “Vice President Biden is the president-elect based on the electoral count,” according to Politico.

▪ Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio also acknowledged Biden as the president-elect in a Dec. 14 statement.

“The orderly transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy, and although I supported President Trump, the Electoral College vote today makes clear that Joe Biden is now President-Elect,” he said.

▪ In a Dec. 30 Facebook post, Nebraska GOP Sen. Ben Sasse said:

“We have a bunch of ambitious politicians who think there’s a quick way to tap into the president’s populist base without doing any real, long-term damage,” Sasse said. “But they’re wrong — and this issue is bigger than anyone’s personal ambitions. Adults don’t point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government.”

▪ Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey wrote on Twitter Saturday that he intends “to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others.”

▪ Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia said Sunday that lawmakers have “a solemn responsibility to accept these electoral college votes that have been certified,” according to The Washington Post.

▪ Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said, “I think the overwhelming weight of the evidence is that Joe Biden defeated my candidate, Donald Trump, and I have to live with it,” The Washington Post reported.

This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 10:53 AM with the headline "These are the Senate Republicans who oppose GOP efforts to challenge Biden’s victory."