UPDATE: 1:58 p.m.
Conservative freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., made her congressional debut with a fiery speech that suggested a star in the making.
“You cannot change the rules of an election while it is underway and expect the American people to trust it,” she said.
Boebert already made news by pledging to carry a Glock around Washington, D.C., despite the city’s attempt to ban guns.
She is the first woman to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses a vast swath of the state west of the Rocky Mountains.
UPDATE, 1:37 p.m.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, brought the GOP challengers’ central argument into focus, that the problem was unconstitutional rule-changes prior to the election that not only set the stage for massive vote fraud but themselves constituted violations.
“They threw everything they had at him, so what’d they do next? They changed the rules,” Jordan said.
“…They did an end-run around the constitution in every state that Republicans will object to today,” he continued. “… We are the final check and balance. The authority rests with us.”
Original story below:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cast the first shot in the joint session of Congress to count Electoral College votes—declaring that GOP members of Congress must clear to the gallery in observance of social-distancing rules.
Pelosi claimed Republicans were in “gross violation” of the policy established by the House sergeant-at-arms.
House members, many of them poised to challenge states where the outcome was disputed, seemed taken aback, although they did not appear to comply with the demands.
“May I ask how one may make an objection or make a parliamentary inquiry in the future if you’re not on the floor of the gallery?” asked Morgan Griffith, R-Va.
However, Vice President Mike Pence said that the parliamentary inquiry constituted “debate” which was not statutorily permitted for the joint session.
Only 15 minutes into the session, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led the challenge to Arizona‘s electors, prompting debate from the two separate chambers individually.
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., kicked off the House debate.
“It’s time we start following the constitution,” Scalise said. “It’s time we get back to what our Founding Fathers said is the process.”
