House Democrats are looking to reform the Electoral Count Act (ECA) that Donald Trump tried to exploit to remain in power, but the former president's efforts to escape accountability for the Jan. 6 insurrection may make those changes impossible.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) has been talking with Democratic colleagues about clarifying some ambiguities in the ECA that birthed the "Stop The Steal" rally and U.S. Capitol riot to prevent another vice president from carrying out Trump's plot to throw out Joe Biden's electors, reported the Washington Post.
"It's bad enough that Donald Trump has successfully required Republicans to maintain absolute fealty to the mythology that his conduct on Jan. 6 was beyond reproach," writes Post columnist Greg Sargent. "This will make a true national reckoning with that day far harder. But it gets worse: This could also make reforms to prevent a future Jan. 6 less likely, with terrible long-term consequences."
Republicans will become increasingly obligated to wave away the long-term implications of the failed coup as the House select committee uncovers evidence of Trump criminality, and that could dampen enthusiasm for fixing weaknesses in the ECA that both parties should want to reform.
"If this cause gets associated with Enemies of Trump — with the idea that Jan. 6 portends an enduring threat to democratic stability, and that we should act on this — it may grow harder for even non-Trumpy Republicans to associate themselves with it," Sargent writes.
Well-intentioned Republicans should want to reform the existing law, because it make elections harder to steal and remove the pressure to help Trump carry out a similar scheme if he runs again -- but Sargent has doubts they'll go along with Democratic efforts.
"That seems unlikely," he writes. "The pathologies unleashed inside the party will probably make it impossible."
