Senators close to unveiling bill to clarify VP role in Electoral College certification

July 14 (UPI) -- A bipartisan group of senators have reached an agreement on a plan to revamp the Electoral Count Act to clarify the vice president's role in certifying presidential election results.

Two unnamed Senate sources told CNN said the overhaul will make it clear that the vice president has only a ceremonial role in overseeing the electoral certification.

The group of lawmakers said they were working to finalize the legislation and introduce it as early as next week, NBC News reported.

"We're very close. We've got a few technical issues that we need to iron out, and I'm very hopeful that we'll have a bill early next week -- or bills," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters Wednesday.

"That's one of the issues that we're deciding: whether it's better to introduce more than one bill or one bill."

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said the group was "hopeful" about the success of the legislation.

Plans to clarify the Electoral Count Act come about a month after the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol heard testimony about former President Donald Trump's efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to reject the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Former advisers and lawyers to Pence said Trump counsel John Eastman tried to present a legal theory to justify having Pence overturn the election during the certification process.