Rep. Darrell Issa has been intertwined with Donald Trump for years. He’s effusive in his views about how the nation and world would be better off with a second Trump presidency, while contending the Biden-Harris administration has made everything worse — as he told a Trump rally in Novi, Mich., last weekend. Issa, who represents the East County-centric 48th Congressional District, talks extensively in public settings and on social media about the need for tougher border and immigration policies, including his support for mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. — the centerpiece of Trump’s immigration plan. What he apparently doesn’t like to talk about is whether he’d vote to certify the 2024 election if Vice President Harris defeats Trump. With the Nov. 5 election approaching, there’s been renewed interest in the Jan. 6, 2021, riotous insurrection at the U.S. Capitol inspired by Trump aimed at blocking Joe Biden’s legitimate victory in the presidential election. Less attention has been focused on what happened just hours later, when 139 Republican House members and eight GOP senators voted against certifying Biden’s victory in certain states in an attempt to deny him the presidency. Issa was one of them. Issa this week would not say whether he would do the same thing if Harris defeats Trump. Neither Issa nor his aides responded to a list of emailed questions, including whether the member of Congress will “commit to certifying the November presidential election regardless of who wins.” Issa’s not alone. Republican House members across the country have dodged the question about whether they will certify a Harris victory. CalMatters recently queried the 12 California GOP House incumbents and only four pledged to uphold the election results. Issa was among those who did not respond. GOP challengers in competitive races were also asked and two committed to certifying the vote. Republican Matt Gunderson, locked in a tight race with Democratic incumbent Mike Levin in the 49th Congressional District, did not respond, according to CalMatters. Like the other incumbents, Issa is facing re-election, though his contest with Democrat Stephen Houlahan is not considered a competitive race in the heavily Republican district. Congressional certification is the final step in what had been a perfunctory process until four years ago, when Trump supporters in Washington and in various swing states tried to overturn the election won by Biden. “This year, Trump’s allies have set the table to try to block certification should Trump lose,” according to The Associated Press. That’s despite approval by Congress in 2022 of the Electoral Count Reform Act, which made it more difficult for Congress to object to election results and clarified the vote-counting process. Issa was among the 200 House Republicans who voted against it. Trump continues to claim widespread voting fraud denied him a second term, even though numerous lawsuits, recounts and in-depth reviews showed that wasn’t the case. After initially backing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, Issa endorsed Trump — he compared Trump to Ronald Reagan at a San Diego rally  — and urged other Republicans to get on board when it was clear where the momentum was going. Issa’s connection with Trump has had its political ups and downs. Issa was elected to Congress in 2000 and had an easy run until he boarded the Trump train in 2016. Issa nearly lost his seat in that election. In 2017, Issa faced growing opposition in the north San Diego County district he then represented, which had trended Democratic over the years and voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. He particularly faced the wrath of protesters outside his district office over his vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare, and replace it with a Trump-backed plan. Issa decided against running for re-election in 2018. Trump nominated Issa for director of the United States Trade and Development Agency, but his confirmation was blocked by Senate Democrats in 2019. In 2020 Issa was elected in his current district, which includes land along the U.S.-Mexico border. One of his first acts as a “freshman” in Congress was voting to overturn Biden’s election. He since has consistently blamed Biden and Harris for increased illegal border crossings and contends they have allowed dangerous migrants into the country. He dismisses the more recent border crackdown by the Biden administration, saying it is still not enough and comes too late. “Biden has surrendered our sovereignty and is letting foreign governments — many that are hostile to our national interest — decide who gets to cross our borders, break our laws, and remain in our country,” he said in a statement earlier this year before the tightened border restrictions. Issa is a member of the House Judiciary Committee and in September participated in a hearing before the panel focused on families that have been affected by crime by immigrants. “For the mothers who lost their children today, I will tell you it would have been avoidable if we’d had the mass deportation of people illegally here,” he said, adding later that “we will need a mass deportation. The priority, of course, should be criminal aliens.” Trump’s ability as president to carry out mass deportations will face legal, logistical and financial hurdles. The American Immigration Council, which advocates for immigrants, estimated that a one-time operation to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants — Republicans say that number is low — would cost $315 billion. The U.S. gross domestic product would be reduced by between $1.1 trillion and $1.7 trillion, according to the organization’s analysis. An ongoing operation could cost $88 billion annually to deport 1 million people a year and nearly $1 trillion over a decade. Issa didn’t respond to questions about how the country would pay for that and what economic impact he thinks mass deportation would have. Trump has made launching his immigration program a priority, which suggests it may be one of the first things he’d do during a second term. One of Issa’s first decisions after being sworn in may be whether to certify the election to help Trump make that happen.