On Jan. 6, Vice President Mike Pence will oversee the Senate's formal acceptance of the Electoral College vote—and so far, it looks like he'll be following the usual protocols instead of joining in efforts to upend the results. Earlier this week, GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert filed a lawsuit against Pence, asking a Texas district judge to grant sole authority to Pence to dismiss election results in swing states and count only pro-Trump electors. But in a Tuesday court filing cited by the Hill, Gohmert's attorneys revealed that the vice president has already been approached to see if there could be any joining forces with Gohmert's efforts—and it was apparently a hard pass. Bloomberg reports that before Gohmert filed his suit, his counsel first sent over an email with legal arguments to Pence's office, then followed up with a phone call to Pence's lawyers.
"In the teleconference, Plaintiffs' counsel made a meaningful attempt to resolve the underlying legal issues by agreement," the filing read. "Those discussions were not successful in reaching an agreement." Politico notes it's the first sign that Pence is steering clear of "some of the most extreme calls to reverse the presidential election results." Gohmert has been pushing for US District Court Judge Jeremy Kernodle to expedite his decision and rule by Jan. 4, two days before Congress meets to certify the electors' votes. Though it's not clear if that will happen, Kernodle says Pence has to respond to the suit by 5pm ET on Thursday, and Gohmert to Pence by 9am Friday. Pence himself hasn't made any public comments on President Trump's push to subvert the election results, or on how he'll approach the Jan. 6 congressional proceedings, the Hill notes. (More Mike Pence stories.)
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