How can a simple law provide constitutional powers?
The Constitution grants the Vice President a position in the Senate, and a vote in the event of a tie. It also grants powers by name to the House, to the Senate, and to Congress as a whole.
Article I
Section 1: Congress
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Article I
Section 3: The Senate
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
Article I
Section 4: Elections
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
Article II
Section 1
And they [the electors] shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted.
So, in addition to a duty enumerated in the Constitution as President of the Senate to ensure that counts were signed, certified, transmitted, and received sealed (here, the certification is key, as there was evidence even then that certification should have been delayed until electoral fraud was investigated and, if necessary, resolved), Pence as Vice-President had such powers as Congress was Constitutionally authorized to delegate.
And if he did, then Al Gore had the right to declare himself president in 2000.
No, Gore would have had the ability to put the matter to a vote before the House of Representatives.
12th Amendment (differing slightly from Article II Section 1)
The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President.
If he had chosen to contest the results of Florida and Ohio beyond the Supreme Court, he could have objected to the certification, declared a lack of a majority vote among the Electors, and ordered the matter put before the House. It is a certainty that this possibility was discussed and then discarded on the assumption that it would have hurt his party's short-term viability, or even their medium-term prospects.
The Constitution grants the Vice President a position in the Senate, and a vote in the event of a tie. It also grants powers by name to the House, to the Senate, and to Congress as a whole.
So, in addition to a duty enumerated in the Constitution as President of the Senate to ensure that counts were signed, certified, transmitted, and received sealed (here, the certification is key, as there was evidence even then that certification should have been delayed until electoral fraud was investigated and, if necessary, resolved), Pence as Vice-President had such powers as Congress was Constitutionally authorized to delegate.
No, Gore would have had the ability to put the matter to a vote before the House of Representatives.
If he had chosen to contest the results of Florida and Ohio beyond the Supreme Court, he could have objected to the certification, declared a lack of a majority vote among the Electors, and ordered the matter put before the House. It is a certainty that this possibility was discussed and then discarded on the assumption that it would have hurt his party's short-term viability, or even their medium-term prospects.