A $1.7 trillion spending bill is on its way toward a vote in the House of Representatives after clearing the Senate on Thursday, and with it, a measure that aims to prevent another Jan. 6 insurrection.
Eighteen Republican senators voted with Democrats for the sprawling bill, which includes reforms to what’s known as the Electoral Count Act. Language is aimed at resolving any ambiguity about whether the vice president can overturn the vote of the Electoral College — as former President Donald Trump claimed was possible around the time of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The bill makes clear that the vice president’s role is simply ministerial.