Congress certifies Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, hours after Capitol chaos
The U.S. Congress certifies the Electoral College vote giving Democrat Joe Biden his presidential victory amid violent pro-Trump protesters storming the U.S. Capitol.
Senate support for objecting to certification of the Electoral College vote fell away after pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Members of the House of Representatives planned to object to some states’ Electoral College votes.
KELLY LOEFFLER REVERSES ON OBJECTION TO CERTIFICATION OF ELECTORS
Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., objected to Georgia’s electoral votes late Wednesday night but said the senators who planned to sponsor his move backed out after violence at the Capitol. Members of the House need a senator to sponsor such bicameral objections.
Freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said she was objecting to Michigan’s results with 70 of her colleagues, but that objection was not signed by a senator, meaning it could go nowhere. Other lawmakers in the chamber applauded.
Similarly, just after midnight, Rep. Mo Brooke, R-Ala., said 55 House members wanted to object to Nevada’s results, but no senator stood with them. Lawmakers again cheered.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., said she couldn’t in “good conscience” reject the certification of electors for Georgia — reversing a decision she announced earlier this week ahead of her runoff election.
President Trump arrives to speak at a rally Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP)
“When I arrived in Washington this morning, I fully intended to object to the certification of the electoral votes,” Loeffler, R-Ga., said in remarks from the Senate floor. “However, the events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider and I cannot now, in good conscience, object.”
Some senators voted in the early hours of Thursday morning to reject Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. They were Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wy., Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Ks., Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.
PELOSI’S OFFICE STORMED DURING CHAOS
“I have serious concerns about election integrity, especially in Pennsylvania, and expressed some of them in a written statement to the Senate. But today’s sickening, un-American attack on the U.S. Capitol overshadowed that debate,” Lummis said in a statement early Thursday. “Congress cannot fix problems with election integrity, only states can fix these problems. But Congress can investigate those problems and raise awareness.”
The Senate, however, voted 92-7 to reject the effort to overturn Pennsylvania’s vote, making a clear path for Biden to claim the White House.
Congress early Thursday certified the Electoral College vote.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Sam Dorman and Edmund DeMarche contributed to this report.
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