Congress finalizes Biden's win after riot disrupts Capitol

The House voted to reject an objection to throw out Arizona's Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden. The measure was also dismissed in the Senate.

The effort failed in the House by a final vote of 303 to 121. A majority of Republicans voted to reject the electors, 121-83.

The House and the Senate will now reconvene in a joint session to continue to count the Electoral College votes. 

Remember: Any further objections must be made in writing and backed both by a member of the House of Representatives and a senator, from any state.

Objections that are entertained by the chair — that’s Vice President Mike Pence, whose duties include serving as president of the Senate — will force both the House and Senate to withdraw for debate in each chamber, which will be capped at a maximum of two hours.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley still plans to object to Pennsylvania's results, a spokesman said, which would force a second round of debate and votes on the objection.

Metropolitan police made in excess of 52 arrests as a result of the violence at the US Capitol today, said Chief Robert Contee said at a news conference.

Twenty-six of the 52 arrests were made on US Capitol grounds, Contee said.

Here's a breakdown of the arrests, according to the chief:

Authorities also recovered a pipe bomb from the Democratic National Committee and another pipe bomb from the Republican National Committee. A cooler from a vehicle along with a long gun that also included Molotov cocktails on the grounds of the United States Capitol were also recovered.

Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said that Wednesday's riot at the US Capitol building was "beyond awful." 

Flake, a CNN political commentator, who endorsed Joe Biden for president, went on to call on Congress to move certify the election results without objection. 

"Congress is doing exactly what they should be doing right now, certifying the results and then waiting for January 20th," Flake said. "I hope that Congress will take up some of the nominees that the President-elect has put forward and hold those hearings so that we can hit the ground running on January 20th." 

Watch the moment:

Two GOP senators who had initially planned to object to the Electoral College vote counts with Sen. Ted Cruz explained why they didn't, pinning the blame on the riots that took place at the US Capitol today.

Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana said: "I didn't feel comfortable with today's events even though I do believe that election integrity is still a valid issue. Many of us can still pursue it. ... When today's events unfolded, I could not dignify it even by withholding something I objected to."

Asked why she didn't vote to throw out Arizona's election results, freshman Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis pointed to "the activities of the day."

But both Braun and Lummis declined to blame Trump for the violence and destruction in the Capitol.

The other senators who had initially signed onto Cruz's effort but voted to reject the objection to Arizona: Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Steve Daines of Montana and James Lankford of Oklahoma.

GOP Sen. Mike Rounds, who didn't sign on to Cruz's effort and opposed the efforts to throw out the results, said of Trump's rhetoric: “He most certainly did not help.”

The South Dakota senator added: “If anything, he urged in a very emotional situation very inappropriate action by people that appear to be his supporters."

Rep. Nancy Mace said the last few days quickly transformed from the greatest in her political career to the worst. 

Mace said her excitement from being sworn in on January 3, as the first Republican woman to be elected to Congress from South Carolina, quickly turned to horror as pro-Trump mob descended on the US Capitol.

"This has been the best and worst week of my life as an elected official," she told CNN's Don Lemon this evening.

 "My worst fears came true today, this is a sad day for our nation," she continued. "I'm heartbroken, I'm disgusted and I'm angry and enough is enough."

"This needs to stop," she added. "It needs to stop right now tonight. We need to end it."

Watch the interview:

The US Secret Service is significantly ramping up coverage and bringing additional agents from the region to the White House, Naval Observatory, and USSS headquarters after today’s unrest, a source familiar with the situation said.

A USSS official also told CNN that Secret Service was the first federal agency deployed when the US Capitol Police asked for assistance from local and federal law enforcement.

The agents on detail for Vice President Mike Pence and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were present today and worked in their roles focused on securing their protectees, but when Capitol Police put out the call for assistance, USSS sent additional uniformed division and special agents to Capitol Hill to assist. They were subsequently joined by other law enforcement agencies, the official said.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she is extending the public emergency to 15 days, as a result of rioters overtaking the US Capitol building earlier today. This will take the emergency declaration until the day after President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

The mayor says that the people who stormed the Capitol, “sought to disrupt the Congressional proceedings relating to the acceptance of electoral college votes.”

On the floor of the House, New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican, echoed President Trump’s claims that poll watchers were banned from counting locations or otherwise prevented from observing the count and denied the access they legally deserved.  

According to Zeldin, “There were poll watchers denied the ability to closely observe ballot counting operation.” 

Facts First: There have been no reports of systematic irregularities with poll watchers anywhere in the US. There is no evidence supporting claims that poll watchers were shut out of the process.  

You can read more about what happened with poll watchers in specific states here.

The House has finished debating the objection to Arizona’s electoral votes.

Rep. Jim Jordan asked for a recorded vote and members are voting now.

The objection already failed in the Senate.