Some Democrat lawmakers reportedly are concerned about what could happen if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the White House and Republicans retain control of the House.
Under that scenario, House Democrats are worried that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., could obstruct the counting of electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2025, and possibly throw the presidential election to the whole chamber under the constitutional provisions of the 12th Amendment, Politico reported.
One of the speaker's aides dismissed the Democrat concerns as an attempt to raise money before the election. The aide also blasted the comments as the type of extreme rhetoric that has led to two assassination attempts on Trump.
Democrats remember that in 2020 and before he was speaker, Johnson took the lead in filing a brief in a lawsuit that sought to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election win due to alleged voter fraud in several battleground states. The suit was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Johnson now says undocumented immigrants are voting. Last week, he vowed to press ahead with requiring proof of citizenship for new voters as part of a bill to avoid a partial government shutdown in two weeks, though the measure appeared likely to be voted down.
Looking ahead to January, some Democrats also say Johnson might need to satisfy former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and MAGA lawmakers to retain the gavel and challenge the election results.
"He has the muses say something like, 'We know how to tell the truth when we want to tell the truth. And when we want to tell lies, we know how to tell lies that seem like the truth.' And that's how I view Johnson's jurisprudence," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., paraphrasing the ancient Greek poet Hesiod.
"He can state what the Constitution really says — and then he knows how to make polished arguments for Trump that are utterly false and would gut our constitutional system."
GOP members, though, told Politico that, under the hypothetical scenario, they doubted Johnson would surrender to Trump's wishes so easily.
They pointed to the speaker's efforts in securing funding for Ukraine, something Trump and his supporters fought.
Then there's the fact Harris, as vice president, will preside over the certification of electoral votes. Also, it's much harder to object to the counting of votes since a 2022 rewrite of the Electoral Count Act, which requires 20% of each chamber to proceed with an objection.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.