WASHINGTON — Determined lawmakers returned to the US Capitol on Wednesday night after a mob of the president’s supporters stormed the building in a bid to derail a vote to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory — leaving one woman dead.
In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) announced she was reconvening the joint session, which was suddenly interrupted on Wednesday afternoon by thousands of pro-Trump protesters who overpowered Capitol Hill police and hijacked both chambers of Congress.
“Today, a shameful assault was made on our democracy. It was anointed at the highest level of government. It cannot, however, deter us from our responsibility to validate the election of Joe Biden,” Pelosi said.
“To that end, in consultation with Leader Hoyer and Whip Clyburn and calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed tonight at the Capitol once it is cleared for use,” she added, calling the siege a “shameful picture of our country.”
The chief law enforcement officer for the House of Representatives announced law enforcement had secured the building shortly after 5.30 p.m. — prompting a round of applause hours after lawmakers were evacuated in gas masks.
A spokesperson for Vice President Mike Pence, who was overseeing the vote, confirmed that Pence had also returned to the Senate, but revealed he never left the Capitol building.
“And now we will finish the People’s business,” press secretary Devin O’Malley wrote in a tweet.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said they expected the vote to resume at 8 p.m.
The vote on Biden’s Electoral College victory had already been expected to drag into the early hours of Thursday morning after dozens of GOP lawmakers announced they planned to object to Biden’s win.
But after the violent scenes on Wednesday that left at least one woman dead, Sen. Wicker said Republicans were in talks to limit debate on objections.
“We are trying to expedite matters, let everyone have a say, but expedite,” GOP Sen. Ron Wicker Mississippi told The Post.
Freshman Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) also told reporters he expected the session to continue on Wednesday evening.
When asked if he wanted to return to the Capitol, GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska added: “I think that’s the goal for most of us.”
In an emotional tweet, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D.SC), the most powerful black lawmaker in Congress, said he would not be deterred by the violent episode.
“I have faced violent hatred before. I was not deterred then, and I will not be deterred now. Tonight, Congress will continue the business of certifying the electoral college votes,” the veteran of the Civil Rights movement wrote.
Tens of thousands of the president’s supporters flocked to Washington on Wednesday to hear Trump speak at a rally outside the White House where he delivered a fiery speech in which he claimed the election had been stolen from him.
“We will never concede,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “You don’t concede when there’s theft.”
All hell broke loose around 1:30 p.m. after the group marched to the Capitol and entered the building where hundreds of lawmakers — and Pence — were gathered inside to confirm Biden’s win.
The offices of lawmakers such as Pelosi were looted and vandalized while other protestors posed for photos inside the Senate and House of Representatives as outnumbered cops were powerless to stop them.
