A bipartisan group in Congress has vowed to certify the 2024 election results and attend the inauguration of the winner, according to a letter signed on Thursday.
New Jersey Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer said in a release on Friday that he launched the initiative along with Nebraska Republican Representative Don Bacon to “demonstrate true leadership ahead of this critical election and serve as a voice for calm.”
Bacon added, “In America we respect election results especially once the courts and appeals work through the process … We fight hard to win during campaigns and then respect the results when the votes are counted. We are the greatest country in the world, and we are governed by the rule of law. The citizens are sovereign, and they decide.” The collective effort of Bacon and Gottheimer’s initiative is called the “Unity Commitment.”
The lawmakers also agreed to serve “as a voice for calm and reconciliation and speaking out against those who endorse or engage in violence that harms people, property, or public spaces.”
Newsweek has reached out to Gottheimer and Bacon’s Washington, D.C., offices via phone Friday night for additional comment.
Election security has been a hot-button issue among Republicans, most notably with former President Donald Trump falsely claiming his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden was due to a “rigged” election.
After months of Trump’s baseless assertions of a stolen election, and shortly after the January 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol, 147 congressional members refused to back Biden’s victory over Trump, including 139 House Republicans and eight GOP senators. The movement was led by Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, of Texas and Missouri, respectively, along with Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama, according to Reuters.
In July 2022, Newsweek examined a recent comprehensive report, Lost, Not Stolen: The Conservative Case that Trump Lost and Biden Won the 2020 Presidential Election, which featured a thorough rejection of election fraud claims. The report’s Republican authors included election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, former U.S. Senators John Danforth and Gordon Smith, ex-Solicitor General Ted Olson, former congressional chief of staff David Hoppe and three ex-federal judges.
The study analyzed all 64 failed lawsuits in the election’s aftermath, with the Republicans saying: “Trump and his supporters had their day in court and failed to produce substantive evidence to make their case.”
Below is the full list of Republicans vowing to certify the 2024 election.
Don Bacon, Nebraska
Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania
Anthony D’Esposito, New York
Mike Lawler, New York
Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Oregon
Nick LaLota, New York
While speaking with CNN on Thursday, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma was asked about states accepting the 2024 presidential election results and a peaceful transition of power while being confronted by anchor Pamela Brown.
Mullin said, in part, “it doesn’t matter if Republicans win, or the Democrats win. Both parties are probably going to cry, cry foul,” and later adding, “I’ll take it by case, absolutely I’ll look at it.”