SCOOP: ECA GROUP TAKES ON ROGUE ELECTORS — The bipartisan Senate group trying to strike a deal to overhaul the Electoral Count Act is adding to its mission as it tries to ensure another Jan. 6 never happens again: a new legal process to ensure no rogue slates of electors come to D.C., according to two sources familiar with the conversations.
In addition to clarifying that the VP has no authority to ignore electoral slates, raising the bar for the number of lawmakers needed to protest slates, and protecting election workers, the group is considering a legal process that would rely on a federal judge to quickly litigate any discrepancies about who won the state.
The move comes after DONALD TRUMP tried to get GOP statehouses to send rogue slates of electors on his behalf to Congress on Jan. 6. The Senate gang wants to ensure that if that were to ever happen, the legal system could quickly dispense with the matter — rather than relying on Congress to figure out how to handle the situation.
We’re also hearing that group leader SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) has been encouraging the members to work quickly so they can release an outline as soon as possible, perhaps in the coming days. Lawmakers in the group are meeting over Zoom again today, and staff worked all week trying to iron out the pillars of an agreement, we’re told.
Talks heated up after top Democrats from Biden to Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER have sent positive signals on ECA reform, after weeks downplaying the talks. Group members have taken note and were particularly encouraged to see JENNIFER RUBIN — the WaPo opinion columnist known to be close with the Biden White House — appear to suggest ECA reform is worth pursuing after dismissing it just a few weeks ago.
My suggestions for anti-subversion legislation appear at Slate and in this forthcoming Harvard Law Review Forum piece.