Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory, even after a crowd stormed the Capitol, are being denounced by critics in their home districts demanding his resignation or removal.
Protesters, newspaper editorial boards and Democrats at the local level have urged lawmakers to step down or have their peers expelled. The House and Senate may withdraw members by a two-thirds vote or censure or reprimand by a majority.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn “must be held accountable for her seditious behavior and the consequences of that behavior,” a group of Democratic officials wrote in a letter asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to expel her first year. of North Carolina who took his oath of office on January 3rd.
Cawthorn said he had a constitutional duty to vote against Biden. He condemned the violence of Wednesday’s attack, but compared it to last summer’s protests over police brutality. These demonstrations never infringed a government building during official business.
A Capitol police officer was killed and an officer shot dead a woman in the crowd. Three more people died due to medical emergencies in the chaos, forcing lawmakers and staff members to hide as riot police roamed the corridors of one of America’s most consecrated buildings.
Pelosi and other Democratic congressional leaders are pushing for President Donald Trump to be charged with fomenting insurgency and refusing to act to stop the violence. But they have been silent on whether lawmakers who supported the false allegations of electoral fraud that led to melee should be punished.
Most of the previous expulsions have been for members who supported the Confederacy during the Civil War or for taking bribes.
On Saturday in Saint Louis, several hundred people protested against Sen. Josh Hawley, the Missouri Republican in the first term who led efforts in the Senate to overturn Biden’s election. Protesters painted “RESIGN HAWLEY” in large yellow letters in the center of the street.
A caravan of about 40 cars circled Senator Ron Johnson’s office in Madison, Wisconsin, urging him to resign. Johnson initially supported Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud, but after the riot, he voted in favor of Biden’s victory. Johnson condemned the violence, but did not drop the allegations of election fraud.
The editorial boards of two of Wisconsin’s largest newspapers called for Johnson’s resignation, along with editorials published nationwide aimed at Republican Party politicians.
The Houston Chronicle, which was a critic of Senator Ted Cruz, said in an editorial that the Republican knew exactly what he was doing and what could happen when he arrived at the Senate floor to contest the election results.
“These terrorists would not have been at the Capitol if you had not organized this absurd challenge to the 2020 results,” the newspaper wrote.
Cruz has described the attack as a despicable act of terrorism, but continues to push for a commission to investigate the presidential election.
In Alabama, the Decatur Daily demanded the resignation of local representative Mo Brooks. The York Dispatch in Pennsylvania, Congressman Scott Perry is “a disgrace to Pennsylvania and our democracy” and, if he still believes Biden’s election is fraudulent, he should resign because that means his election was also false. Perry condemned the violence of the Capitol.
The Danville Register & Bee in Virginia, he said his representative, Bob Good, must go because his words coincided with the parties that led to the destruction of the crowd. Good said his vote was to protect his constituents.
Trump loyalists invaded “confronted security personnel, and there were injuries and even deaths,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “And you’re as guilty as they are.”