Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) This week joined the growing calls for Hawley and Cruz to be censored, but said the penalties under consideration should also extend to the six other Republican senators who joined them in objecting to the results. polling stations, including Sens. Rick Scott from Florida and Tommy Tuberville from Alabama. Although the others were less expressive about their objections, Murphy said that they were all “legitimizing that view among the crowd [of rioters] that Congress had the power to annul the election. “
“If it were really just the two of them, perhaps the irrational expectation of all these troublemakers would have been dampened,” said Murphy, adding, “So I also don’t love the idea that all the shame is being directed at just those two senators. I think everyone who signed this letter also deserves the blame. “
Some Democrats have gone even further. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said the two should resign and that, if they did not, the Senate should expel them from the chamber, adding that they “betrayed their oaths of office and incited a violent uprising against our democracy. Even Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a centrist Democrat who works closely with Republicans, asked Hawley and Cruz to step down.
Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Went even more bluntly, accusing them of trying to “foment a violent mob for personal gain”.
The pressure for the consequences comes when the Senate is about to start Trump’s second impeachment trial and start suing nominees for President-elect Joe Biden’s office, as well as his Covid-19 relief plan.
A spokesman for the next Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.), declined to comment on what Democrats can pursue as punishment for the two Republican senators once they take control of the chamber later this month. , although several options remain on the table.
Amid the backlash, Hawley and Cruz are doubling down on their objections and their rhetoric that led to violent riots on Capitol Hill, which resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.
Cruz told POLITICO last week that he was simply seeking a debate in the Senate floor and that “what I was doing was the exact opposite of inciting violence”. Hawley wrote an article this week stating that he maintained his objections even after the Capitol riots because “I am not going to bow to a lawless crowd or allow criminals to stifle the legitimate concerns of my constituents.”
Still, his Republican colleagues saw the senators’ electoral objections as yet another attempt to serve the Republican Party base with Trump on his way out and position himself for the presidential elections in 2024. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R- Ky.) His efforts and tried to persuade members of the Republican Party Conference to vote to certify the results of the elections, in part to avoid putting the senators who would face re-election in 2022 in a difficult position.
Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said the group of senators who opposed “will forever be seen as an accomplice to an unprecedented attack on our democracy”, while Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) Described the conduct of Hawley as “really stupid.”
But most Republicans are unlikely to support a formal condemnation in the Senate floor.
“I think it would be a partisan exercise,” said a Republican senator who was anonymous to openly assess the situation. “They seem to be actually being censored in public.”
Even if Democrats choose against a formal penalty, they can still accuse the Senate Ethics Committee of investigating Hawley and Cruz. In addition, several Democratic senators have said that they do not intend to work with the duo again in legislation. Hawley, for example, partnered with Democrats in their effort to stimulate checks.
“I’m not going to work with these Republicans,” said Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) Bluntly. “However, it is important to remember that there are many, many majority in the Senate of Republicans that I work with daily and I will continue to do so.”
And regardless of Congressional action, the two senators have already faced a significant setback. Simon & Schuster canceled the publication of Hawley’s next book and Cruz’s communications director resigned.
In addition, former aides to Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Whom Hawley defeated in 2018, launched a super PAC with the aim of blocking Hawley’s ambitions for a higher position or for re-election to his seat in the Senate. And former Senator John Danforth (R-Mo.), Hawley’s Mentor, resigned his support and said his effort to help prepare Hawley for public office “was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life”.
Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.