Panels in both chambers to take up presidential elector overhauls

With the calendar winding down on a 117th Congress that began with rioters storming the Capitol, lawmakers in both chambers on Friday announced plans to take up bills that overhaul a 135-year-old law governing the counting of presidential electoral votes. 

The House Rules Committee will take up a still-unseen bill Tuesday dubbed the Presidential Election Reform Act, and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said on Thursday a floor vote could happen next week. 

Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif, and Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., members of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attempt by then-President Donald Trump’s supporters to stop Congress from counting electoral votes declaring Joe Biden won the election, have said they were working on a bill to overhaul the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

The Senate Rules and Administration Committee also announced Friday it would mark up a bipartisan bill later this month revamping the 1887 law and clarifying  what happens during presidential transitions.

Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and ranking member Roy Blunt, R-Mo. said in a joint release the markup would be on Sept. 27, days before the Senate is due to leave town until after the November election. The panel previously held a hearing on the bill and heard from experts who suggested technical corrections and clarifying language.