Rep. Mike Gallagher joined six other Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Sunday calling for election reform, but not going as far as voting against certification.

Gallagher joined Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Ken Buck (R-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Nancy Mace (R-SC) in saying it is the states’ job and not Congress’ job to select electors. The move is counter to what members of the Senate did on Saturday when U.S. Senator Ron Johnson joined several others to announce they would object to certifying the Electoral College results when both houses of Congress meet on Wednesday. Both groups agree there are parts of the election process that need further investigation. The statement specifically cites “the reckless adoption of mail-in ballots and the lack of safeguards” as two aspects they believe should be looked at in the future. The statement also points out that in the text of the U.S. Constitution and the 12th Amendment that “there is no authority for Congress to make value judgments in the abstract regarding any state’s election laws or the manner in which they have been implemented.” That means unless the states’ electors say otherwise that the votes should not be changed by Congress.

Johnson and 10 other senators are calling for an appointed Electoral Commission to conduct an emergency audit of the election returns in a number of disputed states, including Wisconsin. 

You can find statements from both Gallagher and Johnson below

SENATOR JOHNSON

WASHINGTON – During an interview on “Meet the Press” Sunday, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) spoke about his support for creating an electoral commission to conduct an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns from disputed states.

“The fact of the matter is that we have an unsustainable state of affairs in this country where we have tens of millions of people that do not view this election result as legitimate. We've just come off of four years where the other side refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of President Trump, and here we are again.”

“This is an unsustainable state of affairs right now. That’s all we're saying is as long as someone will be objecting to this and we’re going to be taking a vote, let's propose a solution in terms of transparency, investigation, with a commission.”

“There is a double standard here and we are not being transparent and we are dismissing the concerns of tens of millions of Americans. Again, I didn't light this fire. This fire was lit over four years ago and we have destroyed the credibility – you have destroyed the credibility of the news media by your bias. And of course people like James Comey, Andrew McCabe, John Brennan destroyed the credibility of the FBI and our justice system as well. We have an enormous problem in this country, it’s unsustainable, and the only way you solve it is with information and transparency and hearings and investigations. It’s not quackery, it’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s what is going to be required.”

REP. GALLAGHER

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Ken Buck (R-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Nancy Mace (R-SC) today released the following statement concerning the January 6 vote to certify electoral votes. 

“We, like most Americans, are outraged at the significant abuses in our election system resulting from the reckless adoption of mail-in ballots and the lack of safeguards maintained to guarantee that only legitimate votes are cast and counted. It is shameful that between both chambers of the U.S. Congress, we have held precisely one hearing on election integrity since Election Day.

"The people cannot trust a system that refuses to guarantee that only legal votes are cast to select its leaders. The elections held in at least six battleground states raise profound questions, and it is a legal, constitutional, and moral imperative that they be answered. 

"But only the states have authority to appoint electors, in accordance with state law. Congress has only a narrow role in the presidential election process. Its job is to count the electors submitted by the states, not to determine which electors the states should have sent.

"The text of the United States Constitution, and the Twelfth Amendment in particular, is clear. With respect to presidential elections, there is no authority for Congress to make value judgments in the abstract regarding any state’s election laws or the manner in which they have been implemented. Nor does Congress have discretion to disqualify electors based on its own finding that fraud occurred in that state’s election. Congress has one job here: to count electoral votes that have in fact been cast by any state, as designated by those authorized to do so under state law.

"As of this moment, not a single state has submitted multiple conflicting slates of electoral votes. In other words, every state has sent either (a) Biden electors, or (b) Trump electors. Of the six states as to which questions have been raised, five have legislatures that are controlled by Republicans, and they all have the power to send a new slate of electoral votes to Congress if they deem such action appropriate under state law. Unless that happens between now and January 6, 2021, Congress will have no authority to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. 

"To take action otherwise – that is, to unconstitutionally insert Congress into the center of the presidential election process – would amount to stealing power from the people and the states. It would, in effect, replace the electoral college with Congress, and in so doing strengthen the efforts of those on the left who are determined to eliminate it or render it irrelevant. 

"From a purely partisan perspective, Republican presidential candidates have won the national popular vote only once in the last 32 years. They have therefore depended on the electoral college for nearly all presidential victories in the last generation. If we perpetuate the notion that Congress may disregard certified electoral votes—based solely on its own assessment that one or more states mishandled the presidential election—we will be delegitimizing the very system that led Donald Trump to victory in 2016, and that could provide the only path to victory in 2024.

"There is one and only one path to victory for President Trump on January 6, 2021, and it depends on state legislatures certifying Trump electors in the states at issue, pursuant to state law and the U.S. Constitution, and based on a finding that votes lawfully cast in November were sufficient to produce a Trump victory. If they believe there was fraud—and if they believe that such fraud affected the outcome of the election—they must, as a body, convene immediately and send us that information, along with certified electoral votes cast by a Trump slate of electors. Absent such action, there is not a constitutional role for Congress to change the outcome of any state’s vote.

"The text of the Constitution is clear. States select electors. Congress does not. Accordingly, our path forward is also clear. We must respect the states’ authority here. Though doing so may frustrate our immediate political objectives, we have sworn an oath to promote the Constitution above our policy goals. We must count the electoral votes submitted by the states.”