There are fair debates over what a revised Electoral Count Act should look like. At a minimum, it should make explicit and undeniable that (1) the vice president does not decide which electoral votes to count; and (2) states that hold popular votes to choose electors cannot later attempt to have their legislatures select their own electors. There is also a strong case for requiring more than a single senator to object to a state’s electors in order to trigger a vote, for requiring more than a majority vote of each house to throw out a certified slate of electors, and for clarifying that Congress is not the place to relitigate any challenge that was, or could have been, raised in the courts or in state election-contest proceedings…

Republicans are understandably mistrustful of a legislative process controlled by Democrats and are hesitant to do anything that looks like giving Joe Biden a win or siding with Biden against Trump. The former president is likely to react poorly once again to Republicans voting for a bipartisan bill. But if anything, a show of bipartisan cooperation on neutral rules for resolving election contests would rob Democrats of a rhetorical weapon. Suffering Trump’s passing anger now is preferable to facing another of his pressure campaigns if he is a candidate again in 2024.

It’s also the right thing to do.