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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowSome of the Republicans who started Wednesday’s protest of the President-elect Joe Biden’s win plan to resume their objections when Congress returns to the Capitol this evening, despite the intervening siege of the building that resulted in one woman’s death.
But the objectors may not launch any additional challenges past the one pending against Arizona’s slate of electors since lawmakers had to evacuate the building, according to aides and lawmakers familiar with their plans.
How the objections unfold may come down to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who was the first senator to announce he would protest the electoral college vote last month, and has yet to agree not to raise a complaint about the outcome in Pennsylvania, according to two Republican officials familiar with internal party negotiations.
They spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about private talks.
Some GOP senators who had previously supported the protest of electoral college decided to drop their objections after the siege of the Capitol.
“Whatever point you made before, that should suffice,” Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., told reporters, explaining that the siege “did change things drastically” and that he wanted to “get this ugly day behind us.”
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a close ally of the president, also told reporters that “in light of events, there’s a bit of a different attitude” about continuing the objection to the election results.
Republican leaders and lawmakers spent Wednesday afternoon trying to press President Donald Trump loyalists like Hawley to abandon their objections to President-elect Joe Biden’s win, as they huddled in an undisclosed location waiting for law enforcement officials to clear bands of pro-Trump rioters from the Capitol, according to multiple people familiar with the effort.
After law enforcement officials cleared the Capitol, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told reporters he believed objectors would “condense” their remaining objections into a single complaint, extending the debate by another 30 or 40 minutes only, before relenting.
“I don’t think there’s going to be another objection,” Paul said. “I think it’s over.”
If Paul’s predictions are correct, it would be a marked surrender from Trump’s allies, who had promised to carry out an all-night, state-by-state marathon of objections to certifying the electoral votes of several swing states that Trump lost in November.
But aides to Hawley and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who also spoke in defense of the objections Wednesday, would not answer queries about whether they planned to continue their objections.
When the House and Senate chambers went into lockdown, both chambers were midway through debating Arizona’s election results, to which Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., had objected. The Senate is set to resume working at 8 p.m., and it is likely the House will follow suit.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had been telling members to return Wednesday night to resume proceedings as a projection of strength after rioters drove lawmakers to evacuate the Capitol, according to two senior Republicans familiar with the message the leader has been sending.
Houe Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., offered a similar sentiment to House members.
“I have faced violent hatred before. I was not deterred then, and I will not be deterred now. Tonight, Congress will continue the business of certifying the electoral college votes,” he tweeted.
The protest of the electoral college results, which began as an organized exercise in the Capitol earlier this afternoon, quickly devolved into chaos as a pro-Trump mob stormed barricades, pushing their way past armed Capitol police and into the congressional office buildings and the Capitol itself, sending both the House and the Senate into lockdown. Lawmakers were evacuated soon after, as protesters occupied the chambers themselves.
As they were pushed out of the Capitol, several Republicans publicly called on President Trump to intervene with his supporters and urge them to stand down.
“Call it off, Mr. President. We need you to call this off,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Pa., said in a CNN interview, appealing to Trump to tweet to his supporters that “it’s over. Please go home.”
Even House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who committed to support the electoral college protest earlier Wednesday, called on Trump to “calm” his supporters and bring their “un-American” protest to an end.
Earlier on Wednesday, McConnell accused Republicans backing the electoral college objections of hypocrisy, shaming them for questioning Biden’s win after spending four years accusing Democrats of never having accepted Trump’s presidency, and urging them not to “escalate what we repudiate.”
“We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids . . . it would damage our republic forever,” McConnell said. “We cannot keep drifting apart in to two separate tribes with a separate set of facts and separate reality, with nothing in common except our hostility toward each other.”
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Oh heck no! Braun better not back down – that is exactly what they want us to do. Antifa were the ones who entered the capitol. Republicans are the law and order party – do not let the Democrats bully us into “backing down.” NO.
Reality is waiting for you when you want to return.
When have they ever interviewed an Anifa member? just a scapegoat just like rightwing Nazis blames Jews.
Antifa? where is your proof they were there? All i saw were MAGA hats, confederate flags and pro-Trump signs and flags. The only bullying that was done was by the Trump insurrectionists attacking law enforcement personnel. Give it a rest. Even Republican legislators blamed pro-Trump insurrectionists. Some laid blame on Trump for the insurrection for his and his son’s and Giulani’s inflammatory rhetoric. Trump kept, and keeps, fanning the flames of insurrection by claiming without ANY verifiable evidence there was election fraud. Start paying attention to FACTS, not Trump’s and his captive media’s lies.
I cannot wait for decency and honesty to replace demagoguery, dishonesty and hate-filled rhetoric on January 20, 2021.
Apparently you’re still under the Trumpian spell. Wacko, ignorant, stupid Trump supporters are the ones who entered the capitol.
Regardless of whether they were antifa, Trump announced that he loved them……
Trump also said he was going to walk with them. Silly people – they never noticed Donald went home.
These guys get together in a room and suddenly decide what the electorate has asked for is no longer needed because its too “ugly”? So is stealing an election – very ugly.
Good point.
At some point the mail in ballots scheme for the COVID emergency has to be reviewed and the legitimatancy of the votes cast in certain states needs to be officially questioned. Congress needs to do their job and not let crazy rioters change the electoral process.
A reminder there was a committee on election fraud put together after the 2016 election. It quietly disbanded after not finding any.
We can believe Mike Braun when he simply acknowledges and repeats over and over that Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost the election and tells his followers that anything else is a despicable lie. Otherwise, he has enabled insurrection and sedition and ought to be prosecuted (notwithstanding his sudden realization that he has contributed to political violence). Braun is a traitor, even if belatedly remorseful.
Braun and his lot suddenly found religion when the people stormed the Capitol … one can only hope they learned their lesson that when you rile people up with fake news, there are consequences …
Unless Congress removes Trump immediately, they should keep in mind that the next time the Capitol is stormed might go differently.
Joe B. Why would it go differently? It isn’t like Trump has control of the military or nuclear launch codes. Oh…..
Don’t worry Brad, he can’t post to Twitter or Facebook. They’ve got him this time!
To late for that sentiment. After being out in the crowd, stoking the flames of hate, and inspiring insurrection and sedition, you’ve shown your colors. You are not fit to represent the people of this state. You shouldn’t be allowed to remain in office, and you sure as heck shouldn’t ever consider being Governor. Just stay away from us…
Time to change state law to allow the citizens of Indiana to recall and revoke the representation of congressional malfeasance — from all levels. Simply because you got elected doesn’t mean you are impervious.
Good grief. Take a chill pill, Chris; Mike Braun is no less perfect than you are…much as you might find that hard to believe.
Inciting insurrection is criminal, Bob P. Not a good look for the “party of law and order”.
Anybody who thinks that the election is stolen should be immediately admitted to an insane asylum.
MIKE Braun? I thought he was LLOYD Braun!
.
(The guy on “Seinfeld” whose phone wasn’t plugged in and he was outselling George in the computer business)
There is a severe mental illness problem in this country. Foremost is Trumpism and Mike Braun is on that list
So it takes hundreds of mentally ill Trump supporters to storm the Capitol and ransack the House and Senate chambers to get Mike Braun to see the light? Proof that he is not up to the job (and never was).
Senator Braun has changed his mind – again. He questioned election fairness – without evidence – and agreed with Trump. Failed Trump lawsuits and failed Trump lobbying efforts with Governors, state legislators, Secretaries of State, Congress, the military, etc. all had Braun’s support as well. Finally Sen. Braun said he’d accept the will of the electoral college. Then whoops, he changed his mind again when Trump sought congressional support to let the Vice President alone or the U.S. Congress overturn both the popular and electoral college votes. It took mob vandalism, break-in, and violence in the U.S. Capitol for Braun to change his mind again.
This is political opportunism on steroids. Braun loyalty to Trump doesn’t pay off. Trump is not loyal to his supporters, the Constitution, the USA, or especially not to the principle of democracy. He wants to be a dictator, and Braun’s actions have only encouraged Trump’s authoritarian outrages.
America’s enemies around the world saw how easy it was to take over our U.S. Capitol and are now encouraged to take advantage of that perceived vulnerability. Vice President Pence should initiate the 25th amendment to remove the President immediately. The USA is in danger, and the Vice President took an oath to protect us. There’s not a minute to waste.
I think he actually changed his mind about the time he was escorted from the Senate chambers because his life was in danger, and realized that the lies he was helping perpetuate were about to threaten his life, and realized that words have meaning and what you say really does matter.
Actively contributing to the creation of an environment where yesterday’s events could occur and then acting as if the events themselves were a surprise and unintended, reveals not only ignorance (or stupidity), but cowardice. Neither are traits worthy of a US Senator. Hoping the state of Indiana recognizes this and rewards Mike and those that support the false narrative of a “stolen election” with some time off next time his / their names appear on a ballot.
I am glad that Senator Braun changed his mind and joined Senator Young in verifying the Electoral Results, whatever he thought before the riots. I do not believe that this election was perfect, but I think it was just about as good as the 2016 election that went the other way (for Mr. Trump). I also think that election reforms, which have resulted in better paper trail, better voting machines have been remarkable. Georgia was able to do a total hand recount three times, I think? A good job by state and locals across the nation. The quality of the election is even more remarkable given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. I guess if you thought the pandemic was a fake, then you’d see no need to modify election procedures to accommodate the needs of voters. I don’t think the pandemic is a fake, so I think modifications were appropriate. Many accommodations were not made due to legal intervention before the election.
I’m sorry that Mr. Trump was not able to simply accept his Electoral College victory in 2016 instead of beginning his unsubstantiated accusations of electoral fraud in the overall count. While some never accepted his 2016 election, millions more did and would have let it alone until this election when they had another chance. If he hadn’t made stupid phone call in April 2018, I don’t think any impeachment would have happened.
The underlying message from Mr. Trump from 2016 to today is that some voters (his voters) should count more than others. If fact, the message has always seemed to be that those who disagreed with him on any issue should not have their vote count at all.
I think the divergence in social and political positions in this country, the “echo chambers” on the “right”” this time, make it really hard for supporters of Mr. Trump to believe that there are really 80 million people who could have voted for Mr. Biden. The same problem that folks on the “left” had when Mr. Trump won in 2016. I think the folks on the “left” were far more aware of the “realness” of Trump voters this time around.
Depending on the leadership on the “right”, this could simply remain an “election fraud” issue, or it could push leadership nearer to the center where some moderate conservatives will be waiting for them.
RE: Tim O’s remark: Does the IBJ Monitor read these things anymore?
Bob P……… such a tattle tale
How was it hiding under your chair, Mike?
“…put this ugly day behind us…”??? Not on your life, Senator Braun! This day will live in history, as will your culpability.