Failing remedies or relief in court, President Donald Trump's Republican allies in Congress will put their own futures on the line with a potential challenge of the Electoral College in Congress come Jan. 6.
"We have a superior role under the Constitution than the Supreme Court does, than any federal court judge does, than any state court judge does," Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., told The New York Times.
The challenge requires, under the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act of 1887, both a member of the House and the Senate to submit in writing an objection to the Electoral College count to be opened Jan. 6 in the House, after states vote on Monday.
"My No. 1 goal is to fix a badly flawed American election system that too easily permits voter fraud and election theft," Brooks added to the Times. "A possible bonus from achieving that goal is that Donald Trump would win the Electoral College officially, as I believe he in fact did if you only count lawful votes by eligible American citizens and exclude all illegal votes."
Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., might be loyalists to sign on to the challenge, per the report.
Both chambers will then proceed to a two-house debate of whether to reject any state's electors, and then vote. With a tight margin in the Senate, and Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, unlikely to join the GOP effort, Joe Biden is still likely to prevail.
"The Jan. 6 meeting is going to confirm that regardless of how many objections get filed and who signs on, they are not going to affect the outcome of the process," Ohio State law professor Edward B. Foley told the Times. "We can say that with clear confidence."
But a certain-to-fail effort might merely damage Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, in the long term and still deliver Biden to the White House.
"The role the V.P. plays in the transition is something that people have never focused on and never think about, but with Donald Trump, you now have to consider all the possibilities," Obama administration legal counsel Gregory Craig told the Times.