Even after a crowd of Trump supporters gathered and entered the Capitol on Wednesday, a handful of Republican senators and more than 100 Republican representatives maintained their decision to vote against certifying the results of the presidential election.
Congress certified Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s election early Thursday, ending attempts to overturn the results in two states. Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Roger Marshall of Kansas and John Kennedy of Louisiana voted to override the results in Arizona, while 93 senators voted against. Hawley, Cruz, Tuberville, Hyde-Smith, Marshall and Senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Rick Scott of Florida voted to override the results in Pennsylvania, while 92 voted against.
The House rejected Arizona’s challenge by a vote of 303 to 121 and rejected Pennsylvania’s challenge by a vote of 282 to 138.
At least four Republican senators who pledged to support the effort to reject the election results reversed the course after Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol, saying the illegality and chaos made them change their minds.
Those included Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, who, after losing a special election on Tuesday, announced her reversal in the Senate floor on Wednesday night. “The events that occurred today have forced me to reconsider, and I cannot now, in good conscience, object,” she said.
Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, changed his position on Wednesday, issuing a joint statement with Senator Steve Daines of Montana, calling for “the entire Congress to meet and vote to certify the results of the election”.
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington also condemned the actions of the crowd of loyalists to Trump and said she would no longer vote against voting certifications.
“Bandits attacked Capitol police, raped and defaced our Capitol building, put people’s lives in danger and disregarded the values that we consider to be expensive as Americans,” said McMorris Rodgers in a statement, released a day after declaring that he would object to the count. of votes. “For everyone involved, what a shame.”
Congressmen, including Rep. Lance Gooden, a Texas Republican, said the violence did not change his mind.
“Although I am disgusted by what I saw today, the mob riots don’t suddenly make this election safe. YES, of course, I’m still contesting, ”he said in a tweet.
Ms. Hyde-Smith, from Mississippi, said she voted against certifying the election because the people she represents do not believe the presidential election was constitutional. “I cannot, in good conscience, support certification,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.