LIVE: Congress Counts Electoral Votes, Some Republicans Plan to Challenge Results

LIVE: Congress Counts Electoral Votes, Some Republicans Plan to Challenge Results

Congress will convene at 1 p.m. ET to count the 538 electoral votes. At least 12 Republican senators will challenge the results along with a handful of Republican House members.

Rioters Causing Building Lockdowns

So now everyone is in recess because rioters have taken over.

BREAKING: Trump supporters have breached the Capitol building, tearing down 4 layers of security fencing and are attempting to occupy the building — fighting federal police who are overrun

This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Thousands, police can’t stop them pic.twitter.com/VVdTUwV5YN

— ELIJAH SCHAFFER (@ElijahSchaffer) January 6, 2021

Rioters have injured a capitol police officer in front of the Capitol Building. pic.twitter.com/xHIau5ly5a

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 6, 2021

Holy shit pic.twitter.com/dofEG2SmqP

— Jim Newell (@jim_newell) January 6, 2021

Protesters have breached the Capitol. They’re outside the Senate chamber pic.twitter.com/I021tKliUD

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2021

Protestors have entered the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/dzaDGn5MoC

— Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) January 6, 2021

Mitch McConnell

Counting Electoral Votes

House of Representatives:

Senate:

Congress will meet at 1 p.m. ET. They will “count and validate the 538 electoral votes that have been certified by the 50 states and District of Columbia.”

Vice President Mike Pence, as president of the Senate, will oversee the process:

Under the process, Vice President Mike Pence, acting in his constitutional role as the president of the Senate, opens up all the certificates reflecting the vote tallies sent by the states. He hands them to “tellers,” people appointed from the House and the Senate to read the ballots and verify the results. The tellers then read the states’ certificates in alphabetical order, starting with Alabama and ending with Wyoming, stating that the certificate from each state “seems to be regular in form and authentic.” If any lawmakers object to a particular state as it is read, Mr. Pence then has the power to recognize them.

—

If Mr. Pence faces objections to any state’s votes, it likely will be his job to stop debate if an objection draws support from only one chamber of Congress—falling short of the requirement that at least one House lawmaker and one senator sign on. Mr. Pence has been reviewing the law and consulting experts, including speaking with the Senate parliamentarian. He doesn’t have the power to unilaterally alter the results, but the president and some of his most ardent loyalists are demanding more-aggressive action. A senior administration official said that Mr. Pence “will follow the law and uphold the Constitution.”

Challenging 2020 Election Results

Some Republicans in the House and Senate will challenge the results:

Rep. Mo Brooks (R., Ala.) has said that he plans to challenge the results from several states, with the vote tallies in Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania of most concern. He has said that Republicans numbering “in the double digits” are joining the effort. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Texas) wants to challenge the results from five states with GOP-controlled legislatures that certified Biden victories there—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He says the five states have submitted competing slates of electors, and has filed a lawsuit seeking to push Mr. Pence to recognize the Trump slates. A federal judge on Friday dismissed the case.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is leading the charge in the Senate. At least 11 other senators have joined his chorus: Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun, Steve Daines, Ron Johnson, John Kennedy, and James Lankford.

Sens.-elects Bill Hagerty, Cynthia Loomis, Roger Marshall, and Tommy Tuberville will also object.

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