By Dennis Romero - NBC News
A federal appeals court on Saturday night rejected a congressman's attempt to overturn the results of the November presidential election.
A three-judge panel of the United States Fifth District Court of Appeals rejected a lawsuit by Republican Representative for Texas Louie Gohmert, which sought to allow Vice President
Mike Pence to hand over the election victory to outgoing President Donald Trump.
The panel coincided with Friday's ruling by Texas Federal District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, who said Gohmert and a group of 11 Arizona voters who support Trump had no right to change Pence's role.
Gohmert sued Pence in an effort to transform his job as an electoral vote counter to a
leading role in the election.
[William Barr: "I see no reason" to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate alleged electoral fraud]
Under Amendment 12 to the Constitution, the Vice President presides over the Senate's electoral vote count, acting as a human accountant.
The lawsuit sought to free him to refuse to accept some votes from supporters of President-elect Joe Biden, eventually to
give Trump the White House back
.
Vice President Mike Pence during the U.S. Student Action Summit, Tuesday, December 22, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Florida. AP
Pence "may exercise exclusive authority and sole discretion to determine which electoral votes to count for a given state," read the original Dec. 27 lawsuit against the vice president.
The Trump Administration's Justice Department opposed the lawsuit in court;
argued that Pence was the wrong target.
[What's behind Trump's rise in popularity with Texans?]
Gohmert's office did not immediately respond to a request for its response to the ruling.
You have options to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has so far avoided the 2020 electoral challenges, and request full fifth district court review.
The Electoral College this month affirmed Biden's victory 306-232, and nearly all legal efforts by the Trump campaign and its supporters, including more than 50 lawsuits,
have failed.
Trump has continued to make allegations, without proof, of widespread voter fraud in the elections.