WASHINGTON, D.C. — The third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate is calling on Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz to resign, arguing that their objections to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory “incited and supported the violent mob that attacked the Capitol.”
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state said Friday that there can be “no normalizing or looking away from what played out before our eyes this week.”
At the end of the day, our job is to keep this country a democracy where voices win, not brute force. Any Senator who stands up and supports the power of force over the power of democracy has broken their oath of office. Senators Hawley and Cruz should resign.
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) January 8, 2021
Cruz, of Texas, and Hawley, of Missouri, were at the forefront of congressional efforts to object to the certification of Biden’s win over President Donald Trump. A violent mob stormed the Capitol as the process of objecting was underway, creating mayhem that left five people dead. Trump spoke at a large rally near the White House before the siege began.
Another Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, said one option for punishing Hawley and Cruz would be to hold them “in contempt, basically, for insurrection and high crimes.”
He stopped short of saying Hawley and Cruz should be expelled from the Senate. But he said action should be taken to prevent “anyone with blind political ambition to supersede the protection and defense of our country.”
Hawley said on Thursday he “will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections.”
Hawley and Cruz didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
