Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton has split from other Republican senators who are threatening to derail the transition of power following the 2020 presidential election. Many expected Cotton to side with the 11 GOP lawmakers who say they will formally object to the election results on Wednesday when the U.S. Congress votes to ratify the Electoral College results. However, according to a report by The Hill, Cotton said he fears this will “establish unwise precedents.”
Cotton is considered an up-and-comer in the Republican party and may even receive its nomination for the 2024 presidential election, making this an important moment for him to weigh in. Some thought that Cotton would join Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley in demanding a commission to audit the 2020 election results. If they are not allowed to form this commission, the group says, it will formally object to the election of Joe Biden on Wednesday. If they follow through, Cotton will not be among them.
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“The Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states — not Congress,” Cotton argued in a public statement issued on Sunday night. “They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College — not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts — not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the state.”
While Cotton will not join any effort for a formal objection, he is among the prominent Republicans who have promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, claiming without evidence that there was fraud on a large enough scale to change the end result. This is not true, following dozens of recounts, audits, investigations and lawsuits all around the country.
Cotton did not rescind these conspiracy theories on Sunday night but instead argued that it is better for the GOP in the long term to concede this election. He said that Cruz and Hawley’s efforts could ultimately help Democrats “achieve their longstanding goal of eliminating the Electoral College,” which he fears would “Take another big step toward federalizing election law.”
“Thus, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on Jan. 6,” Cotton concluded. Congress meets to count those votes on Wednesday, Jan. 6, and President Donald Trump has been promoting a large protest in Washington, D.C. for the same day. Biden takes office on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
