By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Melissa Mahtani, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in his remarks during the Senate debate on Arizona's electoral results said failing to certifying the results "would damage our republic forever."
"The Constitution gives us here in Congress a limited role. We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids. Voters, courts, states have all spoken. They've all spoken. If we overrule them it would damage our republic forever," he said Wednesday.
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From CNN's Phil Mattingly Manu Raju and Lauren Fox
The US Capitol Police have ordered staff to evacuate House Cannon building and the James Madison Memorial Building which is part of the Library of Congress. No further information at this time beyond it’s needed due to police activity, per multiple sources.
USCP sent an alert to staff alert to staff about a suspicious package in the 300 Block of First Street SE, advising staff to avoid the area.
Read the alert:
The USCP is continuing to investigate a Suspicious Package in the 300 Block of First Street SE. Staff and other personnel are directed to AVOID THIS AREA until further notice.
The following road closures are in effect due to the investigation: The following road closures are in effect due to the investigation:
-First Street between C and D Streets SE
-New Jersey Avenue between Ivy and D Streets SE
-D Street between New Jersey Avenue and Second Street SE
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed President Trump's allegations of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, saying:
"Every election we know features some illegality and irregularity and of course that's unacceptable. I support strong state-led voting reforms. Last year's bizarre pandemic procedures must not become the new norm. But my colleagues, nothing before us proves illegality anywhere near the massive scale, the massive scale that would have tipped the entire election. Nor can public doubt alone justify a radical break when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence."
"We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on the voters, the courts, when all states have all spoken," he continued.
"They've all spoken. If we overrule them it would damage our republic forever. This election actually was not unusually close. Just in recent history, 2000 and 2004 were all closer than this one. The electoral college margin is almost identical to what it was in 2016," he continued.
McConnell noted in his remarks that he supported Trump's "right to use the legal system."
"Dozens of lawsuits received hearings in courtrooms all across our country. But over and over, the courts rejected these claims including all-star judges whom the President himself has nominated," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in his opening remarks during the Senate debate on Arizona's electoral results said that his vote today would be the "most important he ever cast."
"This will be the most important vote I've ever cast. President Trump claims the election was stolen. The assertions range from specific local allegations to constitutional arguments to sweeping conspiracy theories," he said.
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Following the objection to Arizona's Electoral College votes, lawmakers are headed to the House and Senate chambers to debate.
These debates can only last for a maximum of two hours.
Each lawmaker can be recognized for up to five minutes of talking, although they can yield to their time to other lawmakers. Then, both chambers separately vote on whether to accept or reject the objection.
An objection has to be raised in writing and endorsed by a congressman and senator.
All of today's objections will be voted on, and are expected to fail.
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
Even as Vice President Mike Pence formalized his position that he cannot overturn the results of the election, President Trump continued to pressure him to break the law and decertify electoral college votes.
"Mike Pence, I hope you're going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you're not, I'm going to be very disappointed in you," Trump said on the Ellipse, moments before Pence released his letter declaring he had no "unilateral" authority to reverse the results.
Trump acknowledged Pence was not likely to follow his demands.
"I’m not hearing good stories," Trump said.
Pence wrote to members of Congress saying:
"It is my considered judgment that my oath to support and defend the Constitution constrains me from claiming unilateral authority to determine which electoral votes should be counted and which should not," Trump continued holding out hope.
"So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do and I hope he doesn’t listen to the RINOs and the stupid people that he’s listening to," Trump said.
Rep. Paul Gosar objected the the counting of the electoral votes in Arizona. He was joined by other representatives and senators.
Several lawmakers applauded after Gosar announced the objection.
What happens now: The objections will extend the normally ceremonial process of counting Electoral College votes into Wednesday evening and possibly beyond.
For each state where a House member and senator object, the two chambers will separately recess and debate the matter for up to two hours, followed by a vote on whether to accept or reject the objection.
Remember: While some GOP lawmakers are expected to object to several states' electoral results, those objections will not change the results of the election.
Every Democrat and some Republicans will reject the challenges in both chambers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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From CNN's Daniel Dale
Trump claimed that, in Pennsylvania, there were "205,000 more ballots than you had voters."
Facts First: False. There were not more votes than registered voters in Pennsylvania; state officials and fact checkers have repeatedly explained that this claim is false. Trump appeared to be invoking an incorrect figure from a Republican state legislator who had relied on incomplete data.
From CNN's Clare Foran
The four lawmakers who will serve as “tellers” who will read aloud the electoral votes from every state are Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Republican Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois and Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California.
Blunt is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and Klobuchar serves as the ranking member, or top Democrat, on the panel. Lofgren is the chair of the House Administration committee and Davis is the ranking member, or top Republican, on that panel.
Blunt is a prominent Senate Republican and a member of Senate Republican leadership as GOP policy committee chairman.
Klobuchar’s national profile was elevated last year when she ran for president herself during the 2020 election cycle in the Democratic primary, but she ended her presidential bid in March of that year and endorsed Joe Biden, whose electoral votes she’ll be reading today.
Lofgren has served in high-profile roles before during major congressional events. In 2020, she was one of the impeachment managers from the House who presented the case from that chamber during the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
Davis has served in the House representing the thirteenth congressional district of Illinois since 2013.
