The joint session of Congress met as prescribed by the United States Constitution to confirm the Electoral Votes at promptly 1:00 p.m. ET on Jan. 6, 2021. Normally, this is a formality and quickly settled. However, hundreds of Republican congressmen and women decided to argue the fairness of the 2020 General election.
Outgoing President Donald Trump, his legal team, and associates disputed the election results immediately after Joe Biden’s victory was called. They filed and lost at least 62 frivolous lawsuits claiming voter fraud.
Mike Pence participating as the Senate President, suffered bullying from Trump, who does not believe his VP cannot deliver the election for him. Ahead of opening the session, he released a statement declaring he is a figurehead during Congress’ session. He has no intention of stepping outside of the job the Constitution expects him to accomplish.
After the formal opening, the unsealing, verifying, reading, and certifying began as expected when Pence asked Congress if there were any objections to Arizona’s electoral votes. They had barely retired to their separate chambers for debate when reports indicated the security barricades at the United States Capitol had been breached.
Congress members were escorted to safety. They hid for hours until it was deemed safe for them to return. The mobs broke tore apart Congressional offices and chambers.
After the day’s events, it is admirable that the Congress members came back together to finish the election certification. The objections announced were for Arizona and Pennsylvania, which after the debates, were voted out.
At 3:44 a.m. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were declared officially the next president and vice president of the United States and will be sworn into office on January 20.
Written by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
CNN: Live
CNN: Pence breaks with Trump on Electoral College role; by Kevin Liptak and Kailin Collins
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of NATO’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Gage Skidmore’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
