Roll Call reported on Tuesday morning an unexpected statement from Sen. Chuck Grassley in which he stated he planned to be in charge of the certification of the Electoral College votes on Wednesday. The mostly ceremonial role—opening the container holding the votes, handing them over to clerks to be tallied, and announcing the result—is supposed to fall to Mike Pence. However, "we don't expect him to be there," said Grassley.
Following Monday’s rally in Atlanta where Trump leaned on Pence to alter the outcome of the election, and previous invitations from Trump for white supremacist militia to get “wild” in D.C. on Wednesday, the announcement from Grassley generated momentary frenzy. That was especially true after Grassley indicated that he needed to listen to what the Josh Hawley/Ted Cruz sedition team has to say before performing his constitutional duty. “It would be really wrong for me to say I have my mind made up,” said Grassley.
However, it turns out that’s not the only thing where Grassley should have done more thinking, less talking. Because Mike Pence says he definitely will be there.
Grassley had barely stepped away from the mic before his staffers hurried up to try and repair the damage. According to an assistant, the 87-year-old Iowa senator was speaking theoretically, not describing what’s going to really happen. It’s the sort of distinction that can be difficult to grasp when you’re thinking of the really important things.
Or when you’re running over something at night and just sort of assuming it was a deer.
But just because Grassley’s team hustled in to throw some sand on that particular fire doesn’t mean there’s not some genuinely horrible news resulting from this interview. As reporter Karoun Demirjian indicates, Grassley will be taking the big seat on occasion, as when Pence takes a bathroom or dinner break. Which could mean he’s there for some time. That’s because the expectation now is that, with Republicans all in a hurry to prove their loyalty to Donald Trump, and demanding two hours of debate on every state they want to challenge, what should be a relatively brief and ceremonial session is expected to stretch 36 hours.
36. Hours.
That means that Pence is unlikely to actually read Joe Biden’s name as the winner of the election before sometime late on Thursday evening. And that’s assuming Pence is still in charge at that point. Because if there’s anything better than Chuck Grassley, it’s sleep-deprived Chuck Grassley.