What if renegade judges do something crazy, or what if the litigation just delays certification of the popular vote long enough to prevent appointment of pro-Biden electors based on the popular vote? We can hypothesize such nightmarish scenarios, but also adequate antidotes: The Biden electors simply need to meet on Monday, Dec. 14, and send their electoral votes to Congress….
That’s because Biden has passed a magic number — not 270, but 50: that is, 50 votes in the Senate to officially declare him the winner when Congress meets in a special joint session on Jan. 6.
The number is 50, not 51, because one of the two Georgia Senate seats will be empty on Jan. 6 — the runoff to fill that seat is being held just the day before. The other Georgia Senate seat, although also in a runoff, involves a special election for an unexpired term; as a result, Sen. Kelly Loeffler will still be a sitting senator on Jan. 6.
So, Biden needs 50 of 99 Senate votes for any electoral college question that might arise. Voting that day will be 48 Democrats and 51 Republicans.
That Republican majority shouldn’t be a problem. Four GOP senators have congratulated Biden as president-elect: Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Ben Sasse (Neb.). Even if Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.) were to recuse herself to avoid voting in favor of her own election as vice president, Biden would have a vote to spare.ADhttps://9122ffb8699c9718a1621ae4d9664253.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
Don’t forget also: If for some strange reason the GOP moderates go wobbly, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will count for Biden because the governors of those states will have certified Biden’s electoral votes. Federal law requires this gubernatorial certification to prevail if the House and Senate split. With these states, Biden is still above 270.
There is one remaining nightmare scenario: that Vice President Pence, as presiding officer in the Jan. 6 joint session, will attempt to override the result required by the Electoral College Act. This is unthinkable; it would be the definition of despotism for Pence to put himself, and Trump, back in power when both the Senate and House recognize Biden’s lawful claim.