Biden’s electoral revolt presents an unusual challenge for the top Republican in the US Senate.

Majority Leader in the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, believes it is dangerous for his party to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory. But some Republicans are getting ahead anyway, and this time McConnell faces a dynamic he can’t fully control.

Despite opposition from the Kentucky Republican, 13 Republican senators have said they will join dozens of their House colleagues Wednesday in objecting when Congress formally affirms Biden’s Electoral College victory. The effort, which is sure to fail, has been pushed by deeply defeated US President Donald Trump as an unjustified and desperate effort to overturn the election results, which all 50 states have already certified.

McConnell warned his colleagues that the showdown is risky because it will force Republican senators, including those in potentially difficult re-elections in 2022, to decide whether to support or oppose happy Trump in a fight they are sure to lose. In mid-December, McConnell privately warned them that pressing the issue would force a “terrible vote,” even as he publicly congratulated Democrat Biden on his victory, ignoring Trump’s refusal to concede.

To recall his views, Republican advisers say McConnell plans to be the first speaker when the initial objection is presented during Wednesday’s joint session of Congress and senators return to his chamber for a two-hour debate and vote. McConnell has also made it clear that the Senate will meet overnight if necessary to handle all objections, attendees said.

McConnell has actively avoided confrontation with Trump whenever possible, but he is clearly fed up with Trump’s chaos. His remarks on Wednesday will surely leave no doubt about the seriousness with which he views the vote, which goes to the heart of the orderly transfer of power in American democracy.

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But McConnell cannot avoid objections, which are allowed by the Constitution and federal law if a representative and senator challenge the electoral votes of a state. It also faces overwhelming political dynamics, including the expected 2024 presidential ambitions of some senators, the desire of others to protect themselves from the 2022 primaries sparked by an offended Trump, and the temptation to use the fight to raise money and bolster support. of Trump’s ardent supporters.

“There are people who would like to be presidential candidates who are acting in the best interest of being candidates,” said David Winston, political adviser to the Republican leaders in Congress.

Trump’s claims of voter fraud, which he began filing months before Election Day, have been rejected by Republican and Democratic officials in state after state and numerous justices, including the conservative-dominated Supreme Court. Former Trump attorney general William Barr has said there is no evidence of fraud that could change the outcome of the election.

Rookie Sen. Josh Hawley has said he will challenge Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Senator Ted Cruz, who leads a group of 11 senators who want to create a commission to examine baseless allegations of voter fraud, is expected to challenge Arizona’s votes. Both men are expected to run for president in 2024.

Senator Kelly Loeffler may also question the results in her state. Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia were pivotal states that Biden won on his way to his 306-232 Electoral College victory.

Spokesman David Popp said McConnell is not pressuring his colleagues to vote with him. But he made his views clear, telling Republican senators last week that he considers the vote the most important of his career and shared his views with numerous colleagues who have sought it out.

His most powerful allies are with him, with Republican whip John Thune of South Dakota earning himself a threat on Twitter from Trump after predicting that the Senate effort would “go down like a shot dog.”

McConnell is trying to lead his colleagues to a conservative argument that Congress should not override the electoral decisions of the states. It has gained momentum in recent days, gaining support from influential members such as moderate Senator Rob Portman and conservative Senators Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey.

Attendees hope that a majority of Republican senators will join McConnell and all Democrats in knocking down electoral voting challenges. Cotton is considered another presidential candidate.

McConnell, 78, has served as the Republican leader since 2007 and is the longest-serving Republican Senate leader in history. But his status as majority leader is in jeopardy for reasons unrelated to the Electoral College dispute within the party. The Republican majority in the Senate faltered early Wednesday when Democrat Raphael Warnock won one of Georgia’s two Senate elections; a very fine margin separated the Republican and Democratic candidates in the second race. Losing both would cost McConnell his majority.

McConnell has not shied away from past battles with the party’s conservative base. He’s won more than anything lately, but in 2010 and 2012, Republican fringe candidates in Nevada, Colorado and Indiana seemed to cost the party seats.

But he changed course in 2014, rejecting a major challenge of his own and bringing the Republican Party to control of the Senate after eight years in the minority.

Cruz’s group includes all four first-year Senate Republicans, a troubling sign for McConnell, as staunch allies like Lamar Alexander and Pat Roberts have withdrawn. Every freshman pledged allegiance to Trump on their campaigns and is casting the first vote of their careers in the Senate in accordance with Trump’s wishes.

On a previous day, freshmen might have been more inclined to side with establishment leadership figures who are likely more important than an outgoing president.