Senate Republicans, including Majority leader Mitch McConnell, have said they would stand against Senator-elect Tommy Tuberville's last-ditch efforts to contest the results of the 2020 election.
Tuberville, a newly elected senator from Alabama, previously hinted that he would join GOP Representative Mo Brooks to challenge the election by using the Electoral Count Act of 1877 when Congress meets to finalize the vote on January 6.
If Brooks and Tuberville successfully band together to oppose the electoral vote, both chambers would be required to hold a two-hour debate and then vote on whether to approve or deny the objection. For the process to move forward, both chambers would have to agree on the objection in order to throw out contested electoral votes.
But Senate Republicans have made it clear they want to avoid that messy process.
Senate Republican Whip John Thune said GOP leaders will tell Tuberville that voting to oppose the Electoral College vote would be a futile and politically damaging move, according to The Hill.
"Ultimately every senator will have to make their own decision about that but I think there will be people, yeah, reaching out him just to kind of find out what he's going to do," Thune said of Tuberville's intentions, The Hill reported.
"If nothing else, we need to kind of know the plan," he said. "We'll see. He's made some public statements," he added. "I'm hoping in the end that all senators will conclude that this election needs to be over with and it's time to move on."
Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas and an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership, said that "he'd be shocked," if fellow GOP leaders haven't already encouraged Tuberville not to contest the vote.
"It's basically going through the motions," Cornyn said of objecting the Electoral College tally. "It's a futile exercise."
The Electoral College officially confirmed Joe Biden to be the next President of the United States on December 14. The upcoming congressional meeting will be the final attempt that Trump and his allies have to contest the vote, after months of failed lawsuits and unsubstantiated claims that the election was riddled with voter fraud.
Along with Thune, McConnell and Senate Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt have also advised GOP senators not to oppose the electoral vote next month.
During a December 15 conference call, McConnell warned that objecting to counting certain states' electoral votes on Jan. 6 would be a political mistake, especially for senators up for reelection, The Hill reported.
Ultimately, Thune said that the GOP leadership wants to "encourage all of our members — new members included — that we got a lot of work ahead of us and that rehashing this takes a lot of time and energy and political capital that could best be used working on an agenda for next year."
Though Tuberville has not officially confirmed whether or not he will vote to oppose the Electoral College tally, Trump said in a radio interview on December 19 that the Alabama senator appeared eager to do so.
"I spoke to a great gentleman, Tommy Tuberville, last night," Trump said on Uncovering the Truth, a radio talk show series featuring Rudy Giuliani.
"And he is so excited. He said...he said, 'You made me the most popular politician in the United States.' He said, 'I can't believe it.' He's great. Great senator."
Newsweek reached out to Tuberville for additional comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
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