Sens. Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David HawleyHallmark PAC asks Hawley and Marshall to return employee donations. House Democrats unveil a resolution to censor Mr Mo Brooks for Capitol disturbances. Commerce Bank joins companies that suspend support for employees who opposed the transition to Biden MORE (R-Mo.) E Ted Cruz
Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzBP, PAC employee, pauses contributions for 6 months. House Democrats unveil a resolution to censor Mr Mo Brooks for Capitol disturbances. What is the future of the Republican Party now? MORE (R-Texas) are facing a possible vote on a Senate censorship resolution as Democrats and some Republicans blame them for the crowd that attacked the Capitol last week.
Several Democratic senators appealed to Hawley and Cruz to resign and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse
Sheldon WhitehouseThis week: Democrats fight Trump’s impeachment after attack on Capitol Hill NIGHT ENERGY: EPA finalizes ‘secret science’ rule, limiting use of public health research | Trump administration finalizes reversal of migratory bird protections | Kerry hopes to focus on climate security at the NSC EPA finalizes ‘secret science’ rule, limiting the use of public health research MORE (DR.I.) and Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell BrownOn The Money: Wave of companies cut donations, much of it to GOP | Wall Street prepares for tougher rules under new Democratic majority | Nearly 6,000 lawyers and law students file for dismissal cases against Cruz and Hawley Reimagining the role of the next SEC president MORE (D-Ohio) have asked to be expelled if they do not voluntarily resign.
Democratic aides say there is a discussion about censoring the two legislators for helping to incite protesters who temporarily suspended the counting of the Electoral College last week after breaking into the Capitol Police.
Some Republican colleagues are also unhappy with Hawley and Cruz, although the GOP’s criticisms of the pair tend to be milder than the splinters hurled towards President Trump
Republican Party leader Donald TrumpHouse tells members to stop spreading lies in the turmoil, Antifa DC attorney general says the Trump Organization wrongly paid the K account incurred during the opening 70K QAnon Twitter accounts suspended after the uproar in Capitol MORE, which is even more widely blamed for the disaster.
Sen. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt Romney Republicans evaluate support for Trump’s impeachment Trumpism shouldn’t become the new Macarthism Security driven by lawmakers’ trips during the inauguration: report MORE (R-Utah), seated behind the Missouri junior senator, appeared to be glaring at Hawley on Wednesday night after the Senate resumed work after the rebellion. At the time, Hawley was explaining why he was challenging the Electoral College vote.
As the Senate was evacuated earlier, Romney would have been heard shouting “this is what you have achieved, boys”.
Sen. Ben Sasse
Ben SasseRepublicans evaluate support for Trump Davis impeachment: Impeaching Trump: Four reasons not to do that, and one reason why we owe The Hill’s Morning Report – Home to accuse Trump this week MORE (R-Nev.) I told NPR that Hawley “was doing something that was really stupid” by challenging the votes of the Electoral College.
Asked during an interview on Fox News ‘The Journal Editorial Report’ whether colleagues from the Senate Republican Party, like Hawley and Cruz, have any responsibility for taking over the Capitol last week, the senator. Pat Toomey
Patrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyThe government used the Patriot Act to collect records of website visitors in 2019 The appeals court ruled that the mass collection of telephone data from the NSA is illegal. Dunford withdraws from consideration to chair the coronavirus supervisory panel MORE (R-Pa.) He said that “there is a lot of soul searching that will have to happen.”
“There are people who really perpetuate the big lie, that Donald Trump won with an overwhelming victory and that everything was stolen from him,” he said. “This is not true and we know that it is not true.
“So there is [is] combination of dishonesty like the propagation of the idea that Wednesday’s proceedings could somehow result in a different outcome and therefore it was reasonable to try to pressure lawmakers to do so. It would never happen.
“To deliberately mislead people about this, this is a real problem,” he added.
Spokespeople for Hawley and Cruz did not specifically respond on Monday to calls from Democratic lawmakers for Republican lawmakers to be expelled, censored or deprived of their duties on the committee.
Cruz, in an interview with Texas television station KTRK, accused Democrats of trying to overthrow him for political reasons.
“No one should be surprised to see Democrats doing politics and trying to attack strong conservative leaders. This is something that Democrats have been doing for a long time. I think it’s very cynical for them to try to take advantage of what was a tragic event, ”he said.
Hawley said last week, “I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who are concerned about the integrity of our elections.”
Hawley won the election for his first term and Cruz was re-elected for his second term in 2018, which means they will not face voters again until 2024
A Democratic senator would need to sponsor a resolution to censor or expel Hawley or Cruz to vote on either option. The possibility of a vote on expulsion is seen as much less likely.
“There were some senators trying to figure that out,” said a Democratic Senate aide. “More and more Democratic members of the caucus are willing to vote yes in a censorship resolution.”
The Senate would blame the senators for adopting a resolution by majority vote to formally declare disapproval of their conduct. An expulsion would require a two-thirds majority vote.
Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution allows each House of Congress to determine its rules of procedure and punish its members for disorderly behavior.
Hawley was the first Republican senator to announce that he would support challenges to the Electoral College. It was a significant change because, although House Republicans already planned to object to several states, they needed a Republican senator to join them to start a debate and vote in both houses.
Days later, Cruz led a group of 11 Republican senators saying they would also object. They distributed a letter asking for the creation of a special commission to conduct a 10-day emergency audit of election results in states where the Trump campaign alleged widespread fraud – allegations that were rejected by Republican and Democratic nominated judges.
Efforts would always be futile. There were not enough votes to reject the results of fair elections in Arizona, Pennsylvania and other states, both in the House and in the Senate, due to opposition from Democrats and most Republicans – especially in the Senate.
But the fact that senators were opposed made Democrats argue that their actions helped lead to terror on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, when thousands of people who apparently believed in election conspiracy theories broke through police lines and ransacked corridors, apparently looking for lawmakers to harm.
“Both @HawleyMo and @SenTed Cruz betrayed their government oaths and incited a violent uprising against our democracy,” Brown wrote on Saturday. “I am asking for your immediate layoffs. If they do not resign, the Senate must expel them ”.
It is not the first time that there are objections to the results. Democrats in 2004 opposed the results of President Bush’s victory in re-election over the senator. John Kerry
John KerryBiden fills his national security team with nearly two dozen nominations The Iranian – and domestic – threat to the United States Five foreign policy plums ready for the Biden harvest MORE (D-Mass.), Delaying the vote of the Electoral College, counting the plenary of a joint session of Congress and triggering a debate.
But Kerry was not contesting the election result at the time and had already admitted his defeat. The situation was much more volatile this year, given Trump’s refusal to admit his defeat and the support he had from many Republican lawmakers.
“The violent mob that attacked the Capitol was made up of people who do not accept democracy and want to take this country by force,” Sen. Patty Murray
Patricia (Patty) Lynn MurrayOvernight Health Care: New Jersey Democrat thinks she contracted coronavirus during Capitol Hill siege | Biden publicly receives second dose of coronavirus vaccine | Senate Democrats demand that Trump resolve the vaccine distribution Senate Democrats demand that Trump resolve the COVID-19 vaccine distribution Nearly 6,000 lawyers and law students ask for suspension cases against Cruz and Hawley MORE (D-Wash.), Said the third member of the Democratic leadership in a statement last week.
“Any senator who stands up and supports the power of force over the power of democracy has violated his oath. Senators Hawley and Cruz should resign, ”she said.
Hawley and Cruz became even more isolated in the Senate GOP after the Mafia attack, as several Republican Senators have given up on their objection plans.
Before Wednesday, Hawley and Cruz were seen standing in front of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and their support for Republican House objections to the Arizona and Pennsylvania election slips was seen as an effort to win over Trump’s supporters.
But the shot backfired, said Brian Darling, a Republican strategist and former Senate aide.
“I think it will be a difficult trip in the short term. Perhaps in the long run they will fix the ship and be able to do what they originally wanted, to be the heir of Trump supporters, ”he said.
“In the short term, Senator Hawley and Senator Cruz are facing resignations. They are going through a very difficult time right now. They need to explain that what they were doing was justified by the Constitution and something that Democrats did in the past in 2016 and 2004, ”he said.
Chip Saltsman, another Republican strategist, said the political situation for Hawley and Cruz looks worse in Washington than in normal America, where many Republicans are concerned about Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud.
“They are more in trouble in Washington, DC than at home,” he said.