Trump slams rewrite of Electoral Count Act regulating vice president

Former President Trump on Thursday criticized the Senate for planning to rewrite the Electoral Count Act to further restrict a state's electors and to clarify the law's language to clearly state the vice president is not able to change the election results.

"So the Democrats, RINOS, and almost ALL others said that Mike Pence, or any V.P., had absolutely no right to do anything but send the 'Votes' to the Old Broken Crow, Mitch McConnell, even if they were fraudulent, corrupt, or highly irregular," Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. "The V.P. was merely a 'human conveyer belt' and could do nothing. BUT NOW, the DEMS & RINOS are working to pass a Bill that stops the V.P. from doing what he was not allowed, according to them, to do. It was all a 'Big Lie.' Should have sent back to States!"

The former president and some of his supporters are accused of trying to set up "alternate electors" to vote for him and later trying to have then-Vice President Pence not certify the election.

The changes also further make clear that a vice president, who presides over Congress' certification of the Electoral College ballots, has only a "ministerial" role and cannot affect the election's outcome.

A bipartisan group of senators are working to reform the Electoral Count Reform Act, including Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Rob Portman (Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (W. Va.), Todd Young (Ind.), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.). 

The bill's rewrite "[a]ffirmatively states that the constitutional role of the Vice President, as the presiding officer of the joint meeting of Congress, is solely ministerial and that he or she does not have any power to solely determine, accept, reject, or otherwise adjudicate disputes over electors," according to a handout on the reforms from Collins.