Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy isn't joining election lawsuit – here's why

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy said Thursday he would not be joining his colleagues in support of a state lawsuit aimed at delaying the appointment of presidential electors in four battleground states, breaking with top GOP lawmakers in his state.

Roy said 106 of his colleagues in Congress filed an amicus brief supporting the Texas lawsuit, but he said he would refrain from doing so himself.

"Respectfully, I will not join because I believe the case itself represents a dangerous violation of federalism and sets a precedent to have one state asking federal courts to police the voting procedures of other states," he said.

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Several top Texas lawmakers – including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen – have backed the efforts spearheaded by Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. But the suit has split members of the GOP, who doubt the claims hold water and dub the suit a long shot in the string of nearly 50 legal battles President Trump's team is undertaking.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has also said he is "not convinced" of the suit's legal grounds and would not be backing it.

Roy went on to say that he supports Trump's lawsuits, which have largely been a fruitless attempt to prove widespread voter fraud took place during the November elections.

“I strongly support the continued pursuit of litigation where most likely to succeed – such as Georgia – to bring to light any illegal votes and encourage, if necessary, state legislatures to alter their electors accordingly,” Roy said on Twitter. “But, I cannot support an effort that will almost certainly fail on grounds of standing and is inconsistent with my beliefs about protecting Texas’ sovereignty from the meddling of other states.”

Trump and his campaign have failed to provide credible evidence that any fraud occurred and the Justice Department says it has found no evidence to support his claims.

The congressman's announcement comes after 17 states filed a brief with the Supreme Court just a day before, mirroring the argument of the Texas suit in saying that the states acted unconstitutionally when either their judicial or executive branches changed their elections laws. The Texas suit, and the states that support it, say that only state legislatures may set laws regarding how states appoint their presidential electors.

The Texas legal action is an extraordinary effort to essentially overturn the result of the presidential election, which President-elect Joe Biden won because of key victories by tens of thousands of votes in the states Texas is suing.

Texas' suit is unique in that it seeks to take advantage of the Supreme Court's rarely used original jurisdiction to bypass the lower courts and put the issue directly in front of the justices.