After passing the House last week with no Republican support, H.R. 4's next stop is the U.S. Senate. Democrats in the Senate need all the support they can get to pass H.R. 4, and at the center of this effort is the vote of Democrat Senator Joe Manchin. And as it stands now, Joe Manchin has no choice but to vote "no" on H.R. 4 based on his prior statements.

Iowa's congressional delegation has written a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and leadership from the House Committee on Administration urging them not to take up Democrat Rita Hart's election contest in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District. As RNLA previously reported, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks is the rightful winner of the race, and Hart is looking to take advantage of the Democrat's House majority to circumvent Iowa's procedures and steal the seat.

Democrat Rita Hart has announced that she will be filing a petition with the House Administration Committee to challenge the results of Iowa's 2nd congressional district race. Why should this alarm Republicans? Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks clearly won the race, not Rita Hart. You read that right... House Democrats are trying to take advantage of their majority to seat the loser of the Iowa-2 congressional race over the rightful winner.

On Monday, House Republicans led by Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill) introduced the Emergency Assistance for Safe Elections (Ease) Act. The EASE Act aims to help states administer elections safely and securely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation is also sponsored by Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Devin Nunes (R-CA), Don Young (R-AK), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Mike Garcia (R-CA), and Steve Chabot (R-OH).

RNLA Board Members Chuck Cooper and Elliot Berke are leading the legal team representing House Republicans working to stop proxy voting as approved by Democrats in the U.S. House.  As the Wall Street Journal reported:  

House Republicans planned to file a lawsuit later Tuesday against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) to block the chamber’s new system of voting by proxy during the coronavirus pandemic, according to House GOP leadership aides. . . .

No Republicans voted in support of rules changes passed by the House in mid-May that will allow lawmakers to cast votes by proxy during the pandemic, and leaders had signaled a possible lawsuit. . . .

The GOP lawsuit alleges that the new rules are unconstitutional because the Constitution requires a quorum, or a majority, of lawmakers to be physically present to conduct business. The Republicans believe the Constitution’s drafters expected there to be challenges to gathering and still wanted lawmakers to physically be present to conduct business.

RNLA Executive Director Michael Thielen states: “In my 25 years in Washington, DC, Rep. Rodney Davis is the best leader of the House Administration Committee. And it is a good thing, as the Committee’s work has never been more important.”

Rep. Davis understands that election law changes should be bipartisan and we need to stop partisan attacks such as claims that Russia stole the election. As Davis explains in an op-ed entitled "Pelosi’s partisanship (and misinformation) threaten America's elections":

A major piece of news happened yesterday, or at least it should be news.  Foreign actors have changed ZERO votes on American voting machines.  The Committee on House Administration held a hearing entitled: 2020 Election Security-Perspectives From Voting System Vendors and Experts.  In a panel of the three manufacturers of virtually all the voting machines in the United States, the following exchange happened (emphasis added):

Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL):  To your knowledge, has a foreign state ever successfully breached or hacked your vote tallying election machines?

Mr. Tom Burt, President and CEO, Election Systems & Software, Omaha, NE: No

Mr. John Poulos, President and CEO, Dominion Voting Systems, Denver, CO: No

Ms. Julie Mathis, President and CEO, Hart InterCivic, Austin, TX: No

This morning, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been a steadfast defender of First Amendment rights, spoke on the Senate floor about the SHIELD Act under consideration by the House today.  He called it "the latest installment in Speaker Pelosi’s campaign to expand government’s control over Americans’ political speech."  

Speaker Pelosi's current crusade against Americans' political speech rights began with H.R. 1, and the SHIELD Act contains portions of H.R. 1, the Honest Ads, and other dangerous provisions.  The RNLA sent a letter to the House opposing it.

Yesterday, the Committee on House Administration marked up the SHIELD Act (H.R. 4617, Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act).  The SHIELD Act contains the provisions of the Honest Ads Act, plus additional dangerous provisions.

If passed, it would likely have very little effect on foreign efforts to influence or interfere with U.S. elections.  Instead, it would regulate Americans seeking to exercise their First Amendment rights, with the effect of restricting political speech.

The RNLA sent a letter to the House opposing the SHIELD Act: