House conservatives are undeterred by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's push to squelch their efforts to contest the presidential election results when a joint session of Congress meets in January to formally count the electoral votes that made Joe Biden's win official.
"I know there is zero chance of succeeding if you are a member of the surrender caucus," said Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican of Alabama who is a leader of the effort. "There is some chance of succeeding if you fight."
The comments are the latest sign that many House Republicans are not ready to accept the results of the election as leading conservatives continue to echo President Donald Trump's false voter fraud claims that have yet to be proven in court -- and House GOP leaders remain silent on acknowledging that Biden is the President-elect.
Indeed, even as McConnell ultimately congratulated Biden on Tuesday and referred to him as the "President-elect" for the first time, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was silent when asked if he'd acknowledge Biden's win, while his No. 2, Steve Scalise, has yet to publicly accept the results himself.
The conservative effort to attempt to overturn states' election results is doomed to fail. But it could put Republicans in a bind.
Privately, McConnell -- along with his top deputies, GOP Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Roy Blunt of Missouri -- urged GOP senators on a Tuesday call not to join a House effort to object to the results on January 6 since doing so would ultimately force senators to cast a vote on the merits of the objection. GOP leaders fear they would be forced to choose between Trump and the will of the voters -- and are eager not to be put in that position.
