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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Experts Clarify Pence's Role in Vote Certification

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Wednesday, January 6, 2021   

WASHINGTON - Pro-Trump protesters have converged on Capitol Hill today as Congress gets set to certify states' electoral votes. The mostly ceremonial process will take longer than in past years, as some lawmakers challenge the results.

President Donald Trump has encouraged the demonstrations, claiming election fraud, and tweeted on Monday that Vice President Mike Pence has the power to reject some states' electors.

Rebecca Green, a professor at William and Mary Law School, noted that under the Electoral Count Act, the vice president has no authority to decide the election outcome. She said his duties as Senate president are to maintain order, break any potential tie and announce the winners.

"None of these duties include the power to decide controversies that might arise over counting electoral votes, or to otherwise decide the outcome of the election," she said, "so that's just not how the law works."

Some lawmakers are planning to voice objections during the vote tally, which could take up to two hours per objection. This could delay the final announcement of Joe Biden as the winner, but federal law requires it to occur before Inauguration Day.

Green spoke at an online event about the procedures of today's joint session and the implications of challenging the results. Another expert, Meredith McGehee, executive director of the nonpartisan group Issue One, said it's dangerous for lawmakers to call the election process rigged or untrustworthy because it undermines the entire democratic system.

"This domestic kind of erosion that's happening by our own president, there's nothing much more he could do to make our foreign adversaries happier," she said. "This has been work that not only Russia or China have undertaken, but other foreign adversaries. This is kind of the lit match that we're playing with, at this point."

Meanwhile, officials are bracing for possible violence in the nation's capital as groups from across the country gather for a final show of support for the outgoing president's attempts to overturn the election results.


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Health and Wellness

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Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

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Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

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Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

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New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

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Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

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