One Trump Ally Calls Senate Challenge a Bad Idea

About a dozen Republican senators are expected to formally object to the election results on Wednesday, but one usual presidential ally will not be among them. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said Sunday night in a news release that he thinks the challenge led by Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley is a dangerous idea that would "essentially end presidential elections and place that power in the hands of whichever party controls Congress." Cotton still backs Trump's claims of election fraud and says they should be investigated, but he thinks Congress should not overstep its normally ceremonial role of certifying state results, reports the Hill. He says doing so would "establish unwise precedents."

“Objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give him a second term,” writes Cotton, referring to Trump. “It will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government" by abolishing the electoral college. The attempt by Cruz and others to delay the certification is seen as futile anyway because it also would have to be approved by the Democrat-controlled House, notes the Washington Post. But the issue highlights the split emerging between establishment Republicans such as Mitch McConnell and Trump loyalists, writes Mike Allen at Axios. Cotton is seen as a potential 2024 candidate, as is Cruz. (More Tom Cotton stories.)