Alex Padilla U.S. Senator for California

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you missed it, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart this weekend to discuss the importance of advancing the legislation and preventing future insurrections. The Senate Rules Committee, which Padilla is a member of, is set to consider the Electoral Count Reform Act tomorrow.

Padilla spoke to Capehart about how Donald Trump and his supporters exploited the Electoral Count Act of 1887 in the lead up to and during the January 6th insurrection. He then laid out how the Electoral Count Reform Act will better protect against rogue governors or legislatures attempting to ignore the will of the people and how it will clarify what the Vice President’s powers are in processing election results.

Key Excerpts:

• PADILLA: […] the Electoral Count Act, which kicks in every four years, which was abused, right, exploited, misinterpreted, as part of January 6, when Trump invited and incited a deadly insurrection in the nation’s Capitol, it was the Electoral Count Act that they were abusing. So what we will be able to begin the process of doing the Senate this week is tightening up that language to say a couple of things like better protecting against rogue governors, legislators that may want to look at election results and say, no, nevermind, we’re going to send a different set of electors as part of who should be the next president of the United States, making it abundantly clear what the powers of the Vice President are and are not when it comes to accepting those electoral votes in Congress […]
  
• There are already 10, maybe even 11 Republicans that have lent their name publicly to the Senate proposal of the Electoral Count Act. We will start hashing out in Rules Committee this week. But bottom line, like I said, making sure we’re protecting against rogue electors or rogue governors, legislators, trying to undermine the will of the people in their respective states, making it clear what the Vice President’s powers are and are not.
  
• If there was one concern about the Electoral Count Act, is it specific to Electoral Count Act, but does not encompass the need to protect voting rights in America. So that work will continue, but will the Electoral Count Act help prevent future insurrections or January 6 type events? Absolutely.

A full transcript of their exchange can be found below:

CAPEHART

The effort to prevent another January 6 is underway in the Senate where the rules committee will meet this Tuesday to mark up the Electoral Count Reform Act, a key procedural step toward passage. The bipartisan bill seeks to Trump proof future election certifications in a number of ways. Here to tell us more is Senator Alex Padilla Democrat from California. Senator Padilla, thank you for coming back to the Sunday show. And thank you for coming on set here in Los Angeles.

PADILLA

Absolutely, welcome to my neck of the woods. Good to be back with you.

CAPEHART

Thank you. So Senator, you are on the Rules Committee. There is this procedural vote that’s going to happen. One: why is it so important that we did that this gets done?

PADILLA

Hugely critical, and let me remind folks that in addition to being a senator from California, served as California Secretary of State before joining the Senate, overseeing elections in the most populous and diverse state in America. So, I can talk to everything from the ballot designed to vote by mail to certification of elections and of course, the Electoral Count Act, which kicks in every four years, which was abused, right, exploited, misinterpreted, as part of January 6, when Trump invited and incited a deadly insurrection in the nation’s Capitol, it was the Electoral Count Act that they were abusing. So what we will be able to begin the process of doing the Senate this week is tightening up that language to say a couple of things like better protecting against rogue governors, legislators that may want to look at election results and say, no, nevermind, we’re going to send a different set of electors as part of who should be the next president United States, making it abundantly clear what the powers of the Vice President are and are not when it comes to accepting those electoral votes in Congress every four years because the chance, the threats against Mike Pence, you know, were about perceived ambiguity in the law, I disagree. But if we can tighten up that language we need to do and we need to do it now. Because even though the November midterms are upon us, we know that that’s really the kickstarter, to the next presidential election cycle. So it set the rules clear. Well, in advance of 2024.

CAPEHART

Right, this is all about this is all about getting things in place for 2024. However, there’s the Senate bill, that you guys are going to discuss, but there’s also a House bill is which is a little different. Will the two chambers be able to reconcile the differences and actually get a bill that can pass both chambers and get to the President’s desk for a signature?

PADILLA

I firmly believe so because there’s both bipartisan and bicameral support for the need to get this done and do it sooner rather than later. So slightly different versions of the bill, try to achieve the same goal right now. Whether the Senate acts in the House bill, the House acts in the Senate bill, it’s a conference committee, different ways to get there. But I think there’s building momentum to making sure we get this done.

CAPEHART

But is there bipartisan support to do this? Because are there Republicans who are on board with the Electoral Count Act.

PADILLA

There are already 10, maybe even 11 Republicans that have lent their name publicly to the Senate proposal of the Electoral Count Act. We will start hashing out in Rules Committee this week. But bottom line, like I said, making sure we’re protecting against rogue electors or rogue governors, legislators, trying to undermine the will of the people in their respective states, making it clear what the Vice President’s powers are and are not. And the most important thing is one big piece of doing everything we need to do to avoid another January 6, after future elections, and then we go right back to work, by the way. I should not leave this out of the conversation, to the work that we started on protecting their fundamental rights to vote and access to the ballot. If there was one concern about the Electoral Count Act, is it specific to Electoral Count Act, but does not encompass the need to protect voting rights in America. So that work will continue, but will the Electoral Count Act help prevent future insurrections or January 6 type events? Absolutely.

CAPEHART

And if I heard you correctly, you said there are 10 Republicans in the Senate who are on board, which is significant because you need 10 to overcome a filibuster so action will move in the Senate.

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