Pence Faces Dilemma Over Biden Election Confirmation, as Trump Digs In
Vice president seeks to balance his constitutional role in ratifying the Nov. 3 results with the president’s concerns
DALTON, Ga.—Rallying voters in Georgia ahead of Tuesday’s Senate runoff elections, President Trump delivered a political message to an entirely different audience: his vice president.
“I hope that Mike Pence comes through for us,” Mr. Trump said to cheers. “He’s a great guy. Of course if he doesn’t come through, I won’t like him quite as much.”
The pressure play Monday night came two days before Mr. Pence is set to take on perhaps his most politically challenging task in four years as a loyal second-in-command. On Wednesday he will oversee a joint session of Congress that is expected to ratify Democrat President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win, even as Mr. Trump continues to reject the results and some Capitol Hill allies plan to contest some state results.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump added further pressure by tweeting, “The Vice President has the power to reject fraudulently chosen electors.”
The states have already certified their results from their electors, and the vice president doesn’t have the power to alter them.
While Mr. Pence’s role as president of the Senate is largely ceremonial, some of the president’s most devoted supporters demand more aggressive action.
“We know this thing was stolen, and we hope and pray the vice president steps up and stands up for President Trump,” said Perry Hooper Jr. , a prominent Alabama Republican.
Despite Mr. Trump’s claims, he and his supporters have failed to present evidence of widespread voter fraud and have been rebuked in dozens of legal rulings.
Conscious of his own political future, Mr. Pence, 61 years old, must balance the concerns of Mr. Trump’s sizable base and the constitutional requirements of his position. He has been thrust into a growing Republican divide over the president’s relentless push.
“He is in a very complicated and difficult position,” said Republican pollster Dave Winston. “He needs to come off as being fair and balanced, focused on what the Senate needs to do, what the Senate represents in a very contentious situation.”
Mr. Trump concluded his comments Monday by saying that with Mr. Pence, “you’re going to get a straight shot.”
During the 1 p.m. Wednesday session, Mr. Pence will open up all the certificates reflecting the vote tallies sent by the states. He will hand them to “tellers,” who are people appointed from the House and the Senate to read the ballots and verify the results. The tellers will then read the states’ certificates in alphabetical order. None of the efforts to contest the results are expected to succeed.
Mr. Pence has been reviewing the law and consulting experts, including speaking with the Senate parliamentarian. A senior administration official said that Mr. Pence “will follow the law and uphold the constitution.”
Since November, the vice president—who allies stress has been loyal to Mr. Trump—has walked a careful line as the president has steadily amplified his claims of a rigged election. Mr. Pence has told Republicans that legal votes must be counted and illegal ones thrown out.
A Republican congressman’s long shot effort to give Mr. Pence more power over the proceedings was rejected by a federal judge. The House of Representatives asked for the case to be dismissed and the Justice Department, acting on behalf of Mr. Pence, also weighed in against the suit.
Mr. Trump was surprised about the Justice filing, said a person familiar with his thinking.
At his own rally earlier Monday in Georgia, Mr. Pence responded to voters shouting “stop the steal,” saying: “We all got our doubts about the last election. And I want to assure you, I share the concerns of millions of Americans about voting irregularities. And I promise you, come this Wednesday, we’ll have our day in Congress.”
Mr. Pence’s team had already sought to manage the tricky situation. Chief of staff Marc Short issued a statement Saturday after a group of Senate Republicans said they planned to raise challenges to some of the states’ results. He said the vice president welcomed the efforts of Congressional members to “use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence.”
The statement was well received by the president, said a person familiar with his thinking. Mr. Trump huddled with Mr. Pence, Mr. Short and others in the Oval Office late Monday. Mr. Short declined to discuss private conversations between the president and vice president.
Mr. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said during a podcast interview with conservative Charlie Kirk posted Monday that the president and vice president were reviewing research and would likely not make a decision until Tuesday on what Mr. Pence should do on Wednesday. He said the president “will make this decision, based on his judgment and the advice that he gets on what the constitution demands.”
Some Trump advisers are promoting the idea that the vice president could have a more expansive role. On Fox News over the weekend, Trump adviser Peter Navarro incorrectly argued that Mr. Pence had the authority to delay the process and grant a 10-day audit of the results.
“Peter Navarro is many things,“ Mr. Short said of that claim. “He is not a constitutional scholar.”
Aides to Mr. Pence are frustrated, a person close to the situation said, describing an “impossible position where he can’t please anybody.” But one person close to the White House argued that Mr. Pence is “always in that balancing act.”
A cautious presence in Mr. Trump’s frequently chaotic administration, Mr. Pence is consistently deferential to the president and takes care to never reveal White House ambitions of his own.
Using more diplomatic language and soothing tones, he calmly flanked Mr. Trump during the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the impeachment of the president by the U.S. House and the tumultuous response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Should Mr. Trump opt out of a 2024 presidential bid, Mr. Pence is one of a number of Republicans likely to jockey for the nomination. Former Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis said Mr. Pence could be a strong presidential prospect.
“He’s not the most dynamic and exciting type of candidate,” Mr. Anuzis said. “But America might be ready for calm.”