Republican Slams Elise Stefanik's 'Totally Wrong' Constitution Claim

House Republican conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) arrives for the weekly conference meeting in the basement of the U.S. Capitol on November 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. On February 9, 2024, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw criticized recent remarks made by Stefanik, who said she would have attempted to decertify the results of the 2020 election if she was vice president.

Texas Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw said on Friday that Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican, is “totally wrong” following her recent remarks about decertifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.

On Thursday, Stefanik spoke with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins and said that she would not have done what former Vice President Mike Pence did and instead would have worked to decertify the results of the 2020 election.

“The Constitution gives you no power, you being the vice president, it gives you no power to decertify the election,” Crenshaw said while appearing on CNN’s Inside Politics with Dana Bash on Friday. “The word certify is not even in there so this idea that there’s this mechanism for Congress to certify or decertify an election, it’s just totally wrong.”

The congressman added: “If you did see that scenario that vice president could say whatever they wanted, right there at the gavel, they could say whatever they wanted and it wouldn’t matter because it’s not true. The Constitution simply doesn’t allow it, there’s no procedure for it.”

The Context:

While appearing on CNN on Thursday evening, Stefanik said, “I would not have done what Mike Pence did. I don’t think that was the right approach…I specifically stand by what I said on the House floor.”

She added: “There was unconstitutional overreach in states like Pennsylvania, and I think it’s very important that we continue to stand up for the Constitution and have legal and secure elections, which we did not have in 2020.”

What We Know:

Following the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump and some other Republican lawmakers called on Pence to attempt to overturn voting results from some states in his role as president of the Senate.

Pence declined the efforts and said in a statement: “My considered judgment is that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not.”

Newsweek reached out to Stefanik’s press office via email for comment.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

Update, 2/9/24, 1:15 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information and to reflect that Newsweek reached out to Stefanik for comment.

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial