On January 1, U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle, a Trump appointee, dismissed the lawsuit Gohmert v Pence, e.d. of Texas, 6:20cv-660. This is the lawsuit filed on December 27 by a Republican Congressman from Texas, Louie Gohmert, and the Arizona Republican candidates for presidential elector. They argued that the federal 1887 “Electoral Count Law” is unconstitutional, and that the Vice-President, as presiding officer of the U.S. Senate when the electoral votes are counted, has the authority to reject any state’s electoral votes.
Here is the 13-page opinion. It says that neither Congressman Gohmert, nor the Republican Arizona candidates for presidential elector, have standing. It also says that if the Republican candidates for presidential elector did have standing, their lawsuit would still fail, because to the extent they are complaining about not being seated in the electoral college, Vice-President Pence doesn’t have the power to seat them. Even under the theory of the lawsuit, all Vice-President Pence could do is reject electoral votes, not add any new ones. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the news.
On January 2, in the middle of the night, the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal.