WASHINGTON (AP) - A growing number of Republican lawmakers are joining President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the election, pledging to reject the results when Congress meets next week to count the Electoral College votes and certify President-elect Joe Biden's win.
Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, on Saturday announced a coalition of 11 senators who have been enlisted for Trump's effort.
This follows the declaration from Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, who was the first to buck Senate leadership by saying he would join with House Republicans in objecting to the state tallies during Wednesday's joint session of Congress.
Trump's refusal to accept his defeat means Republicans are forced to make consequential choices that will set the contours of the post-Trump era. Hawley and Cruz are among potential 2024 presidential contenders.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had urged his party not to try to overturn what nonpartisan election officials have concluded was a free and fair vote.
The 11 senators largely acknowledged Saturday they will not succeed in preventing Biden from being inaugurated Jan. 20 after he won the Electoral College 306-232. However, their challenges, and those from House Republicans, represent the most sweeping effort to undo a presidential election outcome since the Civil War.
"We do not take this action lightly," Cruz and the other senators said in a joint statement.
They vowed to vote against certain state electors Wednesday unless Congress appoints an electoral commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. They are focusing on the states where Trump has raised claims of voter fraud. Congress is unlikely to agree to their demand.
The group, which presented no new evidence of election problems, includes Sens. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin; James Lankford, of Oklahoma; Steve Daines, of Montana; John Kennedy, of Louisiana; Marsha Blackburn, of Tennessee; and Mike Braun, of Indiana; and Sens.-elect Cynthia Lummis, of Wyoming; Roger Marshall, of Kansas; Bill Hagerty, of Tennessee; and Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama.
Trump, the first president to lose a re-election bid in almost 30 years, has attributed his defeat to widespread voter fraud, despite the consensus of nonpartisan election officials and even Trump's attorney general there was none.
Of the roughly 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. He's also lost twice at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The days ahead are expected to do little to change the outcome.
"Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20th, and no publicity stunt will change that," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the panel overseeing the Electoral College count.
Klobuchar said the Republican effort to create a federal commission "to supersede state certifications" is wrong.
"It is undemocratic. It is un-American. And fortunately it will be unsuccessful. In the end, democracy will prevail," she said in a statement.
The convening of the joint session to count the Electoral College votes is usually routine. While objections have surfaced before - in 2017, several House Democrats challenged Trump's win - few have approached this level of intensity.
On the other side of the Republican divide, several senators spoke out Saturday against Cruz and Hawley's effort.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, said in a statement that she will vote to affirm the election and urged colleagues in both parties to join her in "maintaining confidence" in elections "so that we ensure we have the continued trust of the American people."
Sen. Pat Toomey, of Pennsylvania, said a "fundamental, defining feature of a democratic republic is the right of the people to elect their own leaders." He said the effort by Hawley, Cruz and others "to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in swing states like Pennsylvania directly undermines this right."
Earlier this week, Sen. Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, another possible 2024 contender, urged his colleagues to "reject this dangerous ploy," which he said threatens the nation's civic norms.
Caught in the middle is Vice President Mike Pence, who faces growing pressure from Trump's allies over his ceremonial role in presiding over the session Wednesday.
Several Republicans have indicated they are under pressure from constituents back home to show they are fighting for Trump in his campaign to stay in office.
Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Republican, told reporters at the Capitol that leadership was allowing senators to "vote their conscience."
Thune's remarks as the GOP whip in charge of rounding up votes show Republican leadership is not putting its muscle behind Trump's demands, but allowing senators to choose their course. He noted the gravity of questioning the election outcome.
"This is an issue that's incredibly consequential, incredibly rare historically and very precedent-setting," he said. "This is a big vote."