The House select committee hearings into the Capitol insurrection have established two facts virtually beyond debate: One, former President Donald Trump is culpable for what his followers did that day in support of his unprecedented attempt to overthrow a valid election. And, two, Trump’s scheme was aided by deep flaws in the federal statutes guiding the process of counting and certifying electoral votes.
The second issue, at least, now has a fix in sight. A bipartisan group of senators has unveiled legislation that will make it more difficult for future presidents to engage in the kind of anti-democratic mischief that Trump did, with rational and even-handed changes to current law. In a real sense, members of Congress voting on this will be making a choice between safeguarding democracy or defending Trump’s attempted coup — and risking an encore.
The new legislation overhauls a poorly drafted, 19th-century law governing the certification of elections and makes other changes to repair weaknesses that Trump exploited. It specifies that the vice president’s role in the process is purely ceremonial, so future sitting presidents can’t claim, as Trump did, that their vice presidents have the power to simply set aside the voters’ decision.
