Supreme Court Rejects Gohmert Bid to Reverse Trump’s Defeat

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court denied a day-old bid by a Republican congressman to reverse President Donald Trump’s election defeat.

In a one-sentence order Thursday, the justices rejected Representative Louie Gohmert’s request to block Vice President Mike Pence from invoking the law that governed the congressional-vote counting session. The court acted even though the case was seemingly moot after Congress ratified Joe Biden’s victory win early Thursday in a session interrupted the previous day by rioters.

No justice publicly dissented. Gohmert’s ultimate aim was to have the election decided by the House of Representatives, which under the 12th Amendment would have voted by state delegations.

Gohmert originally sought to let Pence reject the certified slates of electors -- and nullify the voters’ choice of Biden -- in five states. His lawsuit contended the Constitution’s 12th Amendment gives the vice president “exclusive authority and sole discretion” to decide which slates of electors to accept.

After Pence said he didn’t have that power, Gohmert’s focus shifted, and he asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block the vice president from invoking parts of the 1877 Electoral Count Act during the congressional session.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, said Gohmert hadn’t suffered the type of concrete injury needed to let federal courts hear his claims. A three-judge appeals court panel upheld Kernodle’s decision on Saturday.

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