Thread by @AkivaMCohen

Pence reporting, correctly, that there is only one certificate from AZ

And now Cruz & Gosar object, to applause from various treasonweasels

Objection that the votes weren't regularly given. No other objections, so the houses separate to deliberate for 2hrs

Scalise says he's rising to object to "a number of states" - is there a chance that this will be the only session of objections?

Scalise just claiming legislative procedures weren't followed. Silliness, as usual. I'm not gonna livetweet each piece of demagoguery

I really want to be watching the senate. They're better than the house treasonweasels

Found it

McConnell asking for unanimous consent to have the time for debate controlled by the party leaders. And got it.

McConnell: Debating a step never taken in American history - should Congress overrule the voters. Trump claims the election was stolen, making small allegations, constitutional arguments, and sweeping conspiracy theories

I supported the president's right to use the legal system. Dozens of courts heard it. Trump lost it all. Including from his own judges

There's always some level of fraud/illegality, and I support efforts to eliminate that. But there's no evidence of widespread fraud that could tip the scale.

This next bit is good:

(Quoting from memory) NOR CAN DOUBT ALONE SUPPORT THIS CHALLENGE WHEN THE DOUBT ITSELF WAS INCITED WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE

This election wasn't unusually close. EC margin is almost identical to 2016 (note: it is identical). If it were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, this democracy would enter a death spiral.

Basically: If we do this, we'd have a raw power struggle every 4 years with no real electoral college.

Self government, my colleagues, requires a shared commitment to truth, and a shared respect for the groundrules of our system

We can't keep drifting apart into separate tribes with separate realities and united only by our distrust of each other

Now going through how mean democrats have been to republican presidents. You guys were mean to trump, but we shouldn't imitate and escalate what we repudiate. Our duty is to govern for the public good. We have a higher calling than an endless spiral of public vengeance

Lots of "two paths are before us, we need to choose life, not poison"

Senate was built to stop shit like this. Reject this nonsense (Paraphrasing)

It would be unfair and wrong to disenfranchise voters and overrule courts and states.

I will not pretend that voting for the objection would be a harmless protest vote and count on others to do the right thing. I'll do my duty. I'm voting no on the objection

Schumer now: This is a formality. Congress doesn't choose winners, the people do. We don't administer elections, the states do.

Yet some of our colleagues are organizing an effort to undermine and object to free and fair elections.

They know they're going to lose. They know there's no evidence. They know they've lost in court over court, in front of many judges, including judges trump appointed. You all know Biden and Harris will be sworn in 1/20

But they're going to object anyway. In the process, they will embarrass themselves, their party, their country. It's a sad comment on our times that merely accepting election results is now an act of courage.

It's even sadder that a part of the GOP now believes their personal political future depends on endorsing an attempted coup.

Senators from both sides of the aisle, of good will, will push back. A substantial bipartisan majority must defend our democracy

Our grand democracy, where schoolchildren extol the peaceful passing of power - but not some people today.

The world is watching. What message will we send today?

A small group will darken our democracy. A larger group from both sides of the aisle can send a stronger message. That facts matter. That truth matters. That there will always be a stronger coalition ready to push back

We each swore an oath just 3 days ago, to defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic. That oath was written after the civil war. Let those words ring in the ears of every Senator today. Let us do our duty to support and defend the Constitution, so help us God

Cruz now.

We're here at a moment of great division and passion. I'm sure we'll see a great deal of moralizing from both sides of the aisle. Everyone needs less certitude. Democracy in crisis. 39% of Americans think the election was rigged.

NO F'ING KIDDING, you're pushing that lie

That is a profound threat to the country and the legitimacy of any administration in the future

So stop threatening it asshole

Talking to democrats: If you vote as a block, just because your guy won, what does that say?

To republicans: If you vote against the objections, what does that tell those people?

It tells them they're wrong, which is what you need to say, schmuck.

Cruz: If we vote down the objection it means we don't care about voter fraud, if we vote for it we steal an election. We should choose door No. 3 and set up a commission to review it.

Dems, if you believe there's no fraud, why wouldn't you want to do that?

[me: No, Senator. If you vote down the objection you say "there's no reason to overturn the election"]

Urging everyone to vote for a bipartisan commission. "Don't take the easy path, we will have a credible and fair tribunal consider the facts" - asshole, those were the courts.

Klobuchar now.

Today shouldn't mean anything. Only 2 prior objections in history, both resoundingly rejected. Because Senators knew better.

"It's a republic if you can keep it"

I appreciate my Republican and Democratic colleagues who have signed on as coup-fighters. Cruz knows all of the facts. Despite the insane conspiracy theories, he knows DHS has said it was the most secure of any election

If Cruz wants to improve the numbers who believe the validity of the election, he can consult with them

And Teddy, we don't have to go back to 1887 for a commission to review; you know we had courts to do that. Your guy lost.

Now going through Arizona details

Republicans certified. 8 AZ courts rejected. 9 AZ representatives elected - I didn't see Teddy at their swearing in objecting to it, because he knows there was no fraud

Telling the story of an unknown statue. "What we do here is more important than who we are"

This is more important than us. Nobody will remember who we are in 100 years, 200 years. But they'll remember what we do today.

Now Toomey.

Does Congress have the Constitutional authority to decide to reject electors based on how well we think states ran their elections

No, of course not. It gives the election role to the States

It gives courts the role of resolving dispute. And Congress gets a role in the RARE case where there are competing slates

Teddy, you want to talk the 19th century precedent? THEY HAD COMPETING SLATES

Oh, btw, if it's congress's role to assess this stuff, on what standards?

And why are you only objecting to the states Trump lost? What about North Carolina? I hear they have ballot harvesting.

Toomey is effing torching him right now

The Congress would end up controlling the presidency, you'd end with the electoral college abolished. You really want that?

This is not our role. Courts decide any challenges like these. We just count.

I voted for Trump. Campaigned for him. Wanted him to win. Wanted Biden to lose. This is more important. Vote no.

Sinema now. Covering what happened in AZ

We've got great anti-fraud measures. Bipartisan results; both parties won races. Results confirmed across the political spectrum.

Quoting the AZ Court smackdown: No evidence.

I asked DHS - any evidence of irregularities? He said no.

Jocelyn from Pheonix. Rachel from Tuscon. Many other 1st time voters. Today's challenge seeks to rob them of their free and fair election

We're not supposed to do this. And voters who voted for the loser are not disenfranchised. Our job is to serve even the people who didn't vote for us. Choose the country over self-interest

Quoting McCain's concession speech.

We have work to do. Follow his example, and so many others. Reject this challenge

Lankford now. He'll be supporting the treasonweasels

We settle our differences with elections. What if you're concerned that courts didn't really pay attention. Constitutional crisis is that millions are being told to sit down and shut up.

Quoting Ted Kennedy - we hope this will put this on the agenda.

Constitution doesn't let me assign electors, and it doesn't give the VP any authority. We're proposing to pause the count, give the states more facts. We're encouraging 10 days so states can address challenges and

make a final decision. If 10 days isn't enough time, we can't just ignore

Shit, something's happening

Session just broke

You can hear conflict on CSPAN's statuary hall feed c-span.org/video/?507745-…