Delegates called back to chambers to deal with Electoral College vote

Editor’s Note: As of presstime for the Appeal, outcomes of House and Senate actions were not completed.

WASHINGTON – Congress reconvened Wednesday night once the Capitol was cleared for use to complete the certification of the Electoral College votes.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the action in a

“Dear Colleague” letter.

“Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of government,” Pelosi said. “It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden.”

Both houses of Congress voted to reject the objection of Biden's win in Arizona.

An objection to Biden's win in Pennsylvania was being debated in the Senate and House as of presstime.

Pelosi said she and other Democratic leaders held calls with the Pentagon, the Justice Department and Vice President Mike Pence to decide next steps.

“We have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” the

California Democrat said.

The Senate reconvened at 8 p.m., Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer told reporters.

The news came more than four hours after the Capitol complex went on lockdown when a mob supporting President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results stormed the Capitol Building.

Lawmakers, staff and reporters were evacuated from the House and Senate floor and galleries and taken to secure locations at the complex.

Shortly before 6 p.m., the House sergeant-atarms informed a group of more than 100 people that had evacuated from the House side that the Capitol had been cleared.

But it was unclear how much work needed to be done to clean up any damage in the building and the chambers. The pro-trump mob had breached the Senate chamber, and pictures showed some carrying floor equipment, like a speaker’s podium, around the hallways.

Pelosi suggested in her letter that the plan when Congress resumed would be for them to complete

the joint session.

First the chambers would resume their separate deliberations on an objection that Republicans lodged to the Arizona results.

“We always knew this responsibility would take us into the night,” Pelosi said. “The night may still be long but we are hopeful for a shorter agenda, but our purpose will be accomplished.”

Some of the GOP senators involved in the objection efforts had been spotted huddling and deliberating, but they had yet to share an update on their plans.