Mitt Romney leads Republicans blasting their colleagues' 'egregious ploy' to overturn Biden's win that 'dangerously threatens our Democracy' after Mitch McConnell warned fight would rip the party apart
Mitt Romney has slammed 12 of his fellow Republican senators following news they plan to object to certifying Joe Biden's win when Electoral College results are tallied in Congress next week.
In a statement released on Saturday night, Romney described the move as an 'egregious ploy that 'dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic.'
The dozen rogue Republican senators who say they'll oppose the vote certification include Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Both men have been touted as future leaders of the GOP, and may be eyeing a run for the White House in 2024.
In his statement, Romney said he believed the senators' 'ambition had eclipsed principle'.
He also claimed that the decision not to certify the Electoral College results 'has the predictable potential to lead to disruption, and worse.'
Romney is not the only Republican senator to oppose the rogue group.
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski - who are both moderates - have similarly sent out messages voicing their disapproval.
'I acknowledge that this past election, like all elections, had irregularities. But the evidence is overwhelming that Joe Biden won this election,' Toomey posted on Twitter.
Murkowski said in a statement: ' I will vote to affirm the 2020 presidential election. The courts and state legislatures have all honored their duty to hear legal allegations and have found nothing to warrant overturning the results.'
Mitt Romney has slammed 12 of his fellow Republican senators following news they plan to object to certifying Joe Biden's win when Electoral College results are tallied in Congress next week
In a statement released on Saturday night, Romney described the move as an 'egregious ploy that 'dangerously threatens our Democratic Republic'
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey similarly sent out messages voicing his disapproval over plans by 12 Republican senators to vote against certifying the election results
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska became the third Senator to publicly denounce her Republican colleagues
The outrage from Romney, Toomey and Murkowski came just hours after Ted Cruz and 10 other GOP senators announced they were demanding the appointment of an emergency commission to conduct a 10-day audit of the election returns in 'disputed states'.
Until such a commission is appointed, they declared that they intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from those states - a largely symbolic move that has little chance of preventing Biden from taking office.
The 11 senators will effectively be joined by Sen. Hawley, who earlier this week became the first sitting member of the Senate to announce he would challenge the election result.
Cruz was joined in the statement by Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Steve Daines, John Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun, along with Cynthia Lummis, Tommy Tuberville, Bill Hagerty, and Roger Marshall, all of whom will be sworn in as senators on Sunday in the new Congress.
In a statement, Cruz and the other senators said they intend to vote to reject electors from swing states that have been at the center of President Donald Trump's unproven assertions of election fraud and will call for the establishment of a commission to investigate claims of fraud on an emergency basis.
'We intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not `regularly given´ and `lawfully certified´ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed,' they wrote in the statement.
'We do not take this action lightly,' they said.
It comes in defiance of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, who has pleaded with his caucus not to attempt to block certification of the Electoral College results.
In conference calls with colleagues, McConnell has reportedly argued that any attempt to block certification of Biden would be futile, and only divide the party.
The dozen rogue Republican senators who say they'll oppose the vote certification include Ted Cruz of Texas, pictured on Saturday
Senator Hawley of Missouri was the first to defy McConnell by announcing he would join House Republicans in objecting to the state tallies on January 6
Senators (left to right) Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Steve Daines signed on with Cruz
Senators John Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun also joined Cruz's faction
Also joining Cruz were incoming Senators (left to right) Cynthia Lummis, Tommy Tuberville, Bill Hagerty, and Roger Marshall, all of whom will be sworn in as senators on Sunday
A number of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives also plan on contesting the vote tally.
The days ahead are expected to do little to change the outcome. Biden is set to be inaugurated January 20 after winning the Electoral College vote 306-232.
Senator Hawley of Missouri was the first to defy McConnell by announcing he would join House Republicans in objecting to the state tallies during Wednesday's joint session of Congress.
The moves drew swift condemnation from Democrats, including former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill, who tweeted 'There are actually 12 Senators 'pointing a loaded gun' at the heart of democracy. They should always be known as the #dirtydozen.'
The Dirty Dozen was a 1967 war film about about ragtag group of hardened criminals who were recruited to form an elite Allied commando unit sent on a virtual suicide mission against high-ranking Nazi officers.
On the other side of the Republican party's split, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska warned such challenges are a 'dangerous ploy' threatening the nation´s civic norms.
The issue is forcing Republicans to make choices that will set the contours of the post-Trump era and an evolving GOP. Caught in the middle is Vice President Mike Pence, who faces growing pressure and a lawsuit from Trump´s allies over his ceremonial role in presiding over the session Wednesday.
'I will not be participating in a project to overturn the election,' Sasse wrote in a lengthy social media post. Sasse, a potential 2024 presidential contender, said he was 'urging my colleagues also to reject this dangerous ploy.'
Joe Biden's win is expected to be certified by Congress when Electoral College results are tallied next week