House members are calling on their colleagues to pledge that they'll accept this fall's election results and oppose any effort to block the seating of fellow members next year. The pledge concerns an unlikely scenario that's been circulating among Democrats and democracy advocates: that Republicans, spurred on by President Trump, would point to allegations of election fraud and seek to block certain House members from being added to the chamber's roll on Jan. 3, 2027, effectively preventing an incoming Democratic majority from taking power. Trump sought to overturn his 2020 election loss, leading to the riot at the U.S.
Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., one of the lawmakers behind the pledge, cited Jan. 6 in making his case for the effort. "Because we've lived through that, because of some of the things the president has done and has said that he's willing to do to stop the will of the people if he doesn't win or if the Republicans don't get what they want, then I think it's really important that we, again, shut down any opportunity for those who want to stop the will of the people," Gottheimer told NPR All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang in an interview. Trump has long claimed baselessly that Democrats cheat to win elections, and in May said he would do "anything necessary" to make sure the U.S. has "honest" elections.
Gottheimer is joined in the effort by Rep. Don Bacon, a retiring Republican from Nebraska. "[I]t's important to put down a clear, bipartisan marker that we follow state certifications, seat certified winners and preserve trust in the institution," Bacon told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the pledge.
At least two other moderate Republicans — Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Lawler of New York — are signing onto the pledge, their offices confirmed to NPR on Friday. Here's how Gottheimer described the Jan. 3 concern, in the NPR interview: "There's been some chatter out there … that what will happen is, instead of allowing a name to be added to the rolls and to vote as the members of Congress, that you will have a member actually object, which they can do. And then there can be a vote in the House to say that we're not going to recognize what the state sent us — the state-certified election — and we're going to kick it back for investigation, either in the House or back to the state." Rick Hasen, a UCLA professor whose election law blog has hosted a lot of the debate about the procedural concern, was asked about the idea on WNYC's On The Media.
"If Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives, and somehow on Jan. 3, somebody tries this kind of maneuver, it's going to provoke such a massive public reaction," he said. "This just seems very far-fetched." Gottheimer responded to that quotation by saying that the Jan. 6 riot seemed similarly far-fetched ahead of time. He also tied the pledge to voters' faith in the election results, saying the effort is lawmakers' "attempt to make sure people can feel strong confidence in our elections and that the will of the people will find their way on Jan. 3." NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews.
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