Lawmakers vow to finish counting electoral votes after assault on Capitol

Washington — As a curfew took impact in Washington, D.C., hours after a violent mob descended on the U.S. Capitol constructing, Republicans and Democrats in Congress vowed to cost forward with their constitutional responsibility of counting the electoral votes that can reaffirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Lawmakers appeared able to reconvene within the wake of the day’s outstanding occasions, which descended into chaos and violence when pro-Trump demonstrators breached safety limitations and gained entry to the Capitol constructing. 

“I’ve confronted violent hatred earlier than. I used to be not deterred then, and I cannot be deterred now,” Congressman Jim Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, tweeted. “Tonight, Congress will proceed the enterprise of certifying the electoral faculty votes.”

Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that after consulting with Home Majority Chief Steny Hoyer, Clyburn, the bulk whip, and talking with the Pentagon, the Justice Division, and Vice President Mike Pence, proceedings would proceed on the Capitol.

“We all the time knew this accountability would take us into the night time. The night time should still be lengthy however we’re looking forward to a shorter agenda, however our goal will likely be completed,” she wrote in a letter to Democratic colleagues.

Pelosi stated the assault on the Capitol can not “deter us from our accountability to validate the election of Joe Biden.”

Requested whether or not the Congress would end counting the electoral votes within the Capitol, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia stated, “we certain hope so.”

“No matter it takes,” he stated. “These thugs usually are not operating us off.”

Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer appeared to point to reporters the higher chamber would collect at 8 p.m., whereas Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, stated lawmakers “should not be intimidated from fulfilling our constitutional responsibility.”

“We should proceed with the depend of electoral faculty votes. In gentle of in the present day’s unhappy circumstances, I ask my colleagues: Will we weigh our personal political fortunes extra closely than we weigh the energy of our Republic, the energy of our democracy, and the reason for freedom? What’s the weight of non-public acclaim in comparison with the burden of conscience?” he stated in an announcement blaming the president for the violent protests that unfolded.

Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska informed reporters many senators “wish to get again to work and get within the chamber and do our job.”

The Home and Senate convened at 1 p.m. for a joint session to start the method of tallying the electoral votes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. After Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Paul Gosar of Arizona, joined by dozens of different GOP lawmakers, objected to the votes from Arizona, the 2 chambers broke into separate classes to debate the objection.

However the proceedings had been abruptly interrupted and recessed because the U.S. Capitol went into lockdown after a violent mob of pro-Trump protesters made their means contained in the constructing. U.S. Capitol Police evacuated lawmakers, workers and reporters from the 2 chambers, and members of the Home and Senate haven’t but returned.

Vice President Mike Pence, who presides over the joint session and was within the Senate in the course of the debate, was whisked off the ground.

Whereas a gaggle of greater than a dozen Republican senators had meant to object to electoral votes solid in different states, together with Pennsylvania and Georgia, it is unclear whether or not they plan to take action within the wake of the day’s occasions.

As Capitol Police struggled to achieve management of the mob, Mr. Trump’s supporters roamed the halls of the Capitol, whereas some entered Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s workplace, and others ended up on the Senate ground.

The president didn’t condemn the actions of his backers who perpetrated the violence, however did encourage them to “go house.”