Pause as the microphones don't work. This is not off to an inspiring start.
Reading off the president's name as "Donald J. Trump of the State of Florida." Queens, we hardly knew ye.
Now, Arizona. Pence recites (as with all the states) that this is the only certificate from the state authorities. Gosar & Cruz object.
Objection leads to groans and applause.
Pence notes that the Arizona objection is duly made, Each House will now vote. This confirms, as a procedural matter, that Pence is not ruling on the objection himself but is following the Electoral Count Act.
In the distance, a cock crows.
Alphabetically, Arizona is the first disputed state up, but it is also about the weakest case of the close states.
Because the case in Arizona is so weak, it is possible that some people will vote against the Arizona objection but vote for some of the later objections. But I expect most of the Congress to vote the same way each time.
Steve Scalise now arguing that electors were not chosen by the proper process, i.e., elections conducted under rules passed by legislatures rather than rewritten by courts or executive officials.
Which is true, but there's no proof that this changed the outcome.
A good statement by Scalise, on its face, but it is disconnected from reality to just talk about the law and not even bother arguing that it altered enough votes to change the outcome in this or any other state. Also, cited no example from Arizona.
Zoe Lofgren is now reading a prepared statement full of generic blather.
McConnell comes in hard: "We're debating a step that has never been taken in American history. Whether Congress should overrule the voters..."
McConnell talking about "sweeping conspiracy theories." His statements of support for Trump are basically "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him."
"We can not simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids." - McConnell
McConnell warns of irreparable damage to the Republic, democracy entering a death spiral. Voice crackling with emotion in a way that is very unusual for Mitch.
Mitch: "Self-government requires a shared commitment to the truth."
McConnell notes the threat this poses to states in particular, recites the multiple times Democrats have pulled the stunt of objecting to electoral votes when they lost, hits themes that are consistent throughout Mitch's arguments about elections for many years.
"We must not imitate and emulate what we repudiate." McConnell rejects the essential credo of Trumpism, that Republicans should fight like Democrats.
"I will not pretend such a vote would be a harmless protest gesture while relying on others to do the right thing." McConnell calls out the charade for what it is.
Schumer now with the task of disagreeing with McConnell after McConnell just tore the case for objections to pieces.
Schumer is overstating his case that this process is entirely a formality. In situations where there are legitimate objections to legitimate competing slates of electors, this process can matter a great deal. But today is not that day.
As Schumer drones on, Dianne Feinstein has been playing with her desk behind him.
Ted Cruz teetering perilously on the verge of a mullet.
Cruz says that a dangerously large number of people believe this election was rigged. He's right. But he somehow fails to mention who convinced them of that.
"I am not arguing for setting aside the results of this election" - Ted Cruz, raising the question of what he is doing in raising an objection that serves no other function.
Cruz moves from lack of public confidence in the election to suggesting a replay of the 1877 election commission, which was widely viewed by the public in its time as a corrupt sham that stole the election of 1876.
The way in which Trump 'thanked' Pence for four years of loyalty is a reminder that everyone who fights for Trump today will eventually be shivved by Trump tomorrow.
https://t.co/2tNspF4Vpm
Toomey, like McConnell, makes his pitch to conservatives that the Cruz objection undermines the power of the states. "A commission? Really?"
"It's not our job...we'd be federalizing election law...it'd be the end of the Electoral College." Toomey hitting conservative themes.
