GOP Lawmakers In NC And Elsewhere May Pay Price For Challenge Votes

Republican Congress members who supported President Trump's doomed effort to stop the certification of Joe Biden's victorious vote tally could end up paying a price.

When they were sworn in earlier this month, members took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Now, after a deadly insurrection at the nation's Capitol, some are questioning if those who challenged certification violated that pledge.

Ted Budd, Virginia Foxx, and all but one of North Carolina's eight GOP Representatives voted in favor of challenging at least one of two contested votes to certify Biden's victory. The lone exception was 10th District Representative Patrick McHenry. 

Both of the state's U.S. Senators — Thom Tillis and Richard Burr, both Republicans — joined McHenry in voting in favor of certification.

The oaths, which rarely attract much attention, have become a common subject in the final days of the Trump presidency, being invoked by members of both parties as they met Wednesday to affirm Biden's win and a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

“They also swore on a Bible to uphold the Constitution, and that's where they really are stepping outside and being in dereliction of duty,” said former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who served as EPA administrator during former President George W. Bush's administration. “They swore to uphold the Constitution against all our enemies, foreign or domestic, and they are ignoring that.”

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, vowed to honor the oath she took and affirm the results of the presidential election while urging colleagues to do the same. Republican Sen. Todd Young, of Indiana, was seen in a video posted to social media telling Trump supporters outside a Senate office building that he took an oath to the Constitution under God and asked, “Do we still take that seriously in this country?”

Corey Brettschneider, a political science professor at Brown University and author of “The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents," said the oath must be taken seriously and that Americans have to demand its enforcement or “the risk is to the entire system.” He said he would support censures, a formal statement of disapproval, for officials who clearly violate their oaths.

“The worst that could happen is that people roll their eyes at the oath and they say, ‘Oh, none of them mean it,' and I think what we've got to do at a time of crisis is exactly the opposite — is to say, this does mean something,” Brettschneider said. “When you break the law, you need to be held to account, and that's what's really up to the American people to be outraged when Trump does what he's done.”

The opposition effort by the others failed and Biden's win was certified by a resounding bipartisan vote.

Republicans who have filed or supported lawsuits challenging Biden's win in November have claimed, without evidence, that the election was rigged against Trump. Their cases have failed before courts all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Both Republican and Democratic officials have deemed the election results legitimate and free of any widespread fraud.

Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, said she would introduce a resolution calling for the expulsion of Republicans who moved to invalidate the election results.

“I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences,” she tweeted. “They have broken their sacred oath of office.”

Whatever political price there may be, there could also be a financial one.

The trade group representing one of the nation's best-known health insurance brands said it's suspending political contributions to lawmakers who voted last week to reject the Electoral College results.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association represents 36 regional and local insurers who use the brand, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. Together they cover about 1 in 3 Americans.

In a statement, Kim Keck, the group's CEO and president, says it will continue to support lawmakers and candidates in both political parties who “will work with us to build a stronger, healthier nation.”

Citigroup confirmed Sunday that it is pausing all federal political donations for the first three months of the year. Others, like Marriott, are only stopping donations to the 147 Republicans who opposed certifying President-elect Joe Biden's election.

In a memo to employees Friday, Citi's head of global government affairs Candi Wolff said “we want you to be assured that we will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law.”

In all, Citi's political action committee donated $742,000 to federal candidates in 2019-2020 according to OpenSecrets, a group that tracks political donations. Of this, $413,500 — or about 56% — went to Republicans and the rest to Democrats.

Unlike other companies, Citi says it is pausing all federal contributions. Medical device maker Boston Scientific said Sunday it is doing the same, while it reviews its approach to political donations. The company said it believes in “respecting the integrity of the democratic process, the election outcome and the peaceful transition of power.”

Hotel giant Marriott said Sunday it has taken “the destructive events at the Capitol to undermine a legitimate and fair election into consideration” and will be pausing political donations to those who voted against the certification of the election.

The company's PAC has donated $108,500 to Democrats and $89,500 to Republicans in the 2019-2020 federal election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.