Yes there is a hole here. Johnson is no longer speaker of the house on January 3rd. The swearing in of members happens after a new speaker is selected (presumably a Democrat if Democrats took control). This is why for the most recent congress no one was sworn in until January 7th, after Mccarthy was finally elected as speaker after many rounds of voting.
That being said facists are gonna facist. Could Republican state governors/secretaries of states pull some shenanigans to prevent certifications of Democrat representatives or the electoral votes from their states? If Republicans retain control of the house they could absolutely do something like the article describes as well. If they have control of the house and senate they can basically make the electoral count certification procedures anything they want, refuse to seat members, lots of stuff.
Yes there is a hole here. Johnson is no longer speaker of the house on January 3rd. The swearing in of members happens after a new speaker is selected (presumably a Democrat if Democrats took control). This is why for the most recent congress no one was sworn in until January 7th, after Mccarthy was finally elected as speaker after many rounds of voting.
That being said facists are gonna facist. Could Republican state governors/secretaries of states pull some shenanigans to prevent certifications of Democrat representatives or the electoral votes from their states? If Republicans retain control of the house they could absolutely do something like the article describes as well. If they have control of the house and senate they can basically make the electoral count certification procedures anything they want, refuse to seat members, lots of stuff.