A joint session of Congress, presided over by Vice President Mike Pence, overwhelmingly rejected objections to the President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory Wednesday, hours after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle had a somber tone as they resumed their duty to count Biden and President Donald Trump’s electoral votes, mere hours after a mob halted the proceedings earlier Wednesday. Bipartisan supermajorities in both the House and Senate voted down objections to counting the electoral votes in certain states. The two chambers then gathered for a joint session and certified the results of all 50 states.
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The result marks the defeat of Trump’s attempts to overturn the election result. His supporters lost their objection to Arizona’s electoral votes 121-305 in the House and 6-93 in the Senate. Trump’s allies lost their objection to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes 282-138 in the House and 92-7 in the Senate as Congress worked late into the night to finish the process.
Pence rejected Trump’s call for him to “decertify” the electoral college votes.
The Electoral Count Act of 1887, which governs the process, specifically prohibits the vice president from intervening in the procedures.
Members of both chambers delivered impassioned speeches about the attack on the Capitol and Trump’s role in it. Most Republicans argued Congress has no role in telling a state how to nominate its electors. Several also said Trump and his campaign lost dozens of lawsuits in court and his election challenges are now defunct.
“Enough’s enough. We’ve gotta end it,” says @LindseyGrahamSC, a frequent golfing partner of @realDonaldTrump, who explains he tried to be helpful during the past four years. pic.twitter.com/W5JbQ1MNvI
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) January 7, 2021
Trump has reportedly taken the day’s events hard from inside the White House, here he returned following his speech to his supporters Wednesday afternoon. (RELATED: Twitter Locks President Trump’s Account for Violating Their Civic Integrity Policies)
The president, a senior adviser says, has “lost it.” He has been almost impossible to talk to throughout the day today, and has been watching the coverage of the Capitol.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 7, 2021
At least three of Trump’s staff members have announced their resignations after the Capitol siege, which Democrats and some Republicans argue the president incited.
Members of Trump’s Cabinet have also reportedly discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. House Democrats published letters urging Pence to do just that Wednesday evening, but the vice president has not weighed in on the issue.
House Democrats who want to invoke the 25th A.
David Cicilline
Ted Lieu
Jerry Nadler
Sheila Jackson Lee
Steve Cohen
Hank Johnson
Ted Deutch
Lucy McBath
Pramila Jayapal
Jamie Raskin
Joe Neguse
Veronica Escobar
Mary Gay Scanlon
Madeleine Dean
Sylvia Garcia
Mondaire Jones
Cori Bush https://t.co/MqMJB0Sdxu— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 7, 2021
Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar is also drafting articles of impeachment against the president, with support from her Democratic colleagues.
