Sen. Josh Hawley objected to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania during a joint session of Congress that continued just past midnight Thursday.
The Missouri Republican resisted intense peer-pressure from fellow conservatives who urged President Trump’s allies to cease objections to swing state electors after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building shortly after noon Wednesday.
The objection was announced by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who said 80 House members and Hawley opposed certification of the state’s electors.
The objection triggers up to two hours of debate in the House and Senate, which will separately discuss and vote on the electors.
A similar objection to electors from Arizona was crushed 93-6 in the Senate and 303-121 in the House.
Hawley told The Post prior to the break-in, which delayed proceedings, that he did not expect to overturn Biden’s victory, but wanted to force a debate on alleged voter fraud and election irregularities.
“I think there’s no votes for that, I mean, at all,” Hawley said of potentially overturning Biden’s win.
Hawley announced his planned objection last week, citing a ruling from Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court that allowed mail-in ballots to arrive after Election Day.
“I cannot vote to certify the Electoral College results on January 6 without raising the fact that some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws,” Hawley said in a statement.
Still, startling scenes of violence on Capitol Hill, including four reported deaths and unprecedented vandalism and scuffles with police, prompted many other Republicans to reconsider.
Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who lost re-election in a Tuesday runoff, said that “the violence, the lawlessness and siege of the halls of Congress are abhorrent and stand as a direct attack on the very institution my objection was intended to protect: the sanctity of the American democratic process.”