Klobuchar Statement on the Electoral Vote Certification

Tomorrow, as outgoing Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, Senator Klobuchar will be one of four Congressional members charged with counting the electoral votes during the Joint Session of Congress. Senator Klobuchar also served in this capacity in 2017 and 2021.

"The peaceful transfer of power is the bedrock of our democracy and we have taken critical action to protect it. Over the last four years, I worked across the aisle to enhance security at the Capitol and pass reforms to the Electoral Count Act to make sure the electoral votes for President accurately reflect the results in each state and to ensure the will of the people prevails. No matter your party, we must uphold the right of all Americans to make their voices heard in our free and fair elections," said Klobuchar.

Senate Rules and Homeland Security Committees bipartisan investigation and report

Two days after the January 6th attack, Senators Klobuchar and Roy Blunt (R-MO) - Chairwoman and then-Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration - and Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) - then Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee - announced a joint bipartisan oversight investigation to examine the intelligence and security failures that led to the attack. Subsequently, the Committees held two oversight hearings related to the January 6th attack on February 23, 2021, and March 3, 2021.

As part of this investigation the Committees reviewed thousands of documents, received written statements from more than 50 U.S. Capitol Police officers about their experiences, and interviewed numerous current and former officials from the U.S. Capitol Police, Senate Sergeant at Arms, House Sergeant at Arms, Architect of the Capitol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, District of Columbia Metropolitan Police, Department of Defense, and the D.C. National Guard.

On June 8, 2021, the Rules and Homeland Security Committees released a bipartisan report on the security, planning, and response failures related to the violent and unprecedented attack on January 6th. The report included a series of recommendations for the Capitol Police Board, U.S. Capitol Police, federal intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, and other Capital Region law enforcement agencies.

In the lead up to and following the release of the report, Chairwoman Klobuchar held six additional oversight hearings on efforts to improve the U.S. Capitol Police and address the recommendations in the report (June 16, 2021, December 7, 2021, January 5, 2022, December 19, 2022, and December 11, 2024), including the first joint hearing of the Capitol Police Board since 1945 (July 26, 2023). Since the report was issued, U.S. Capitol Police and the other agencies responsible for protecting the Capitol have made significant progress implementing the recommendations, the majority of which have been put into effect entirely, as have all 103 recommendations of the Capitol Police's Inspector General.

Klobuchar-Blunt legislation to provide U.S. Capitol Police Chief authority to request emergency assistance from the National Guard

In December 2021, Congress passed and the President signed into law legislation led by Chairwoman Klobuchar and then-Ranking Member Blunt empowering the Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police to request the assistance of the D.C. National Guard or federal law enforcement agencies in emergencies without prior approval of the Capitol Police Board. The bill, the Capitol Police Emergency Assistance Act, reflects a recommendation in the bipartisan report issued by the Rules and Homeland Security Committee, and is in response to delays faced by the former Capitol Police Chief in requesting assistance from the National Guard during the January 6th attack.

Electoral Count Reform Act

In August 2022, Chairwoman Klobuchar held a Rules Committee hearing where every witness - Republican and Democratic experts alike - agreed that Congress needed to update the Electoral Count Act to ensure that the will of the voters prevails in future elections and to improve the counting of electoral votes in Congress.

Chairwoman Klobuchar shepherded the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act through the Rules Committee on a 14-1 vote in September 2022, and the bill became law in December 2022. She worked with then-Ranking Member Roy Blunt and members of the bipartisan group led by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and former Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) to reach an agreement on improvements to the bill.

Four key provisions of the Electoral Count Reform Act:

1. Raised the threshold to challenge electoral votes during the Joint Session of Congress from just one member of the House and one member of the Senate to one-fifth of each chamber;
2. Prevents state legislatures from appointing electoral slates against the will of voters after the election concludes;
3. Ensures that the electoral votes Congress receives accurately reflect each state's electoral results, including giving candidates the right to go to court and prevent rogue governors from sending invalid electors; and
4. Clarified that the Vice President does not have the power to accept or reject lawfully cast electoral votes.

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