INFO - CERTIFICATION VOTES

[footnotes are at the end of this page]

1. Summary: When a mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building on 6 January 2021, they forced an emergency recess in the congressional proceedings to officially certify the results of the November 2020 presidential election, which is usually a routine process. The proceedings were halted and the Capitol was locked down. The Senate and House of Representatives (the two bodies comprising the U.S. Congress) reconvened that evening, and there were eventually votes on what the New York Times called “highly unusual objections, based on spurious allegations of widespread voter fraud”[1] in Arizona and Pennsylvania, states that Biden had won – allegations which had been soundly rejected by courts during the weeks between the November election and the certification votes.[2] William Barr, Attorney General in the Trump administration, had stated on 1 December 2020 that the Justice Department had not uncovered evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election.[3]  Eight senators (out of 100 Senate members) and 139 House of Representatives members (out of 435 House members) voted to sustain one or both objections; the 147 are listed here.[4]

2. Full transcript: For a transcript of the proceedings of Congress on 6 and 7 January 2021 -- including all remarks made by those advocating certification of the election results and by those opposing certification -- see: Congressional Record - January 6, 2021

3. Storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021: The U.S. Capitol Building was attacked during the afternoon of 6 January by a mob of supporters of then-U.S. president Donald Trump; this was after Trump was defeated in the November 2020 presidential election but before Joe Biden took office on 20 January 2021. Some of the rioters assaulted Capitol Police officers and reporters, and attempted to capture and harm lawmakers.[5] More than 2000 rioters reportedly entered the building after security was breached and windows were broken.[6] Among those attacking the Capitol were leaders of the extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers militia groups, who conspired to use violence and block the peaceful transfer of power.[7] Four people died on the day of the attack on the Capitol; one shot by Capitol Police, one of a drug overdose, and two of heart attacks.[8] A Capitol Police officer died the following day of two strokes.[9] 140 police officers reported being injured that day; Matthew Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said that number undercounts how many officers were physically injured and said the attack was likely “the largest single-day, mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation’s history.”[10] Four officers who responded to the attack reportedly died by suicide within seven months after the assault.[11] The Federal Bureau of Investigation considers the attack on the Capitol that day to be an act of domestic terrorism.[12]  The Department of Justice launched the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history.[13] As of 1 March 2024, 1309 people reportedly had been charged with federal crimes relating to the attack.[14]  On 28 June 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents. That decision affected some cases of people charged or convicted in relation to the attack on the Capitol, but as noted in an Associated Press article about the decision, the “overwhelming majority…who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to Capitol riot-related federal crimes were not charged with obstruction and will not be affected by the outcome.”[15] On 20 January 2025, the first day of his second term,  President Trump issued a proclamation granting clemency (pardons or commutation of sentences), and dismissal of pending cases, to all of the nearly 1600 people who had been charged in connection with the 6 January 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.[16] Included in those covered by the clemency were those who had been found guilty of assaulting police, and members of the far-right militant organizations Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who had been found guilty of seditious conspiracy.[17]

4. Criticism by Republican leaders of the attempt to block certification of the election results: All 147 U.S. Congress members who voted against certifying the election results were Republicans. But a number of Republican leaders and former Republican leaders were among those who strongly criticized efforts to overturn the election results, including:

• Republican Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader at the time of the certification votes
• Republican Senator Mitt Romney
• former House Speaker Paul Ryan (Republican)
• Republican senators Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney, who along with several Democratic senators issued a bipartisan joint statement
• all the living former U.S. Secretaries of Defense at that time, including those who served in Republican administrations (joint statement)

All the statements by the above-mentioned Republicans, and statements by others, are in the "Info - Concerns about the attempt to deny certification" section of this website.  

5. Other statements included in the "Info - Concerns about the attempt to deny certification" section of this website include:

• Associated Press report that the Arizona Supreme Court [all seven Supreme Court Justices had been appointed by a Republican governor] had turned aside an appeal by Trump backers seeking to overturn the results in that state; "in all, eight lawsuits challenging Biden’s Arizona win have failed”
• statement by Trump-appointed federal appellate Judge Stephanos Bibas, explaining that the three-judge panel denied the Trump campaign’s effort to overturn election results in Pennsylvania because there was no proof presented that the election was unfair
• joint statement by U.S. Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council & Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees saying that the November 2020 election was "the most secure in American history"
• statement by the nonprofit, nonpartisan League of Women Voters, noting: "This week, Congress will count the Electoral College votes as required by the Constitution and affirm Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States. Any objection to this process is simply political theater which directly mocks and defies our Constitution."

6. Further information:

• “The 147 Republicans Who Voted to Overturn Election Results," New York Times, 7 January 2021.
• “2021 United States Electoral College vote count," Wikipedia.
• "Counting of electoral votes (January 6-7, 2021)," Ballotpedia.
• "Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol," U.S. Government Publishing Office, issued 22 December 2022.

Footnotes

[1] “The 147 Republicans Who Voted to Overturn Election Results,” Karen Yourish, Larry Buchanan and Denise Lu, New York Times, 7 January 2021.

[2] “Results of Lawsuits Regarding the 2020 Elections,” Campaign Legal Center; “Post-election lawsuits related to the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” Wikipedia, accessed 25 April 2025.

[3] “Barr says Justice Department has no evidence of widespread fraud in election,” CBS News, 1 December 2020; “William Barr says there is no evidence of widespread fraud in presidential election,” Evan Perez and Devan Cole, CNN, 1 December 2020.

[4] “The 147 Republicans Who Voted to Overturn Election Results,” Karen Yourish, Larry Buchanan and Denise Lu, New York Times, 7 January 2021.

[5] “Officers’ Injuries, Including Concussions, Show Scope of Violence at Capitol Riot,” Michael S. Schmidt and Luke Broadwater, New York Times, 11 February 2021 updated 12 July 2021; “‘Murder the media’: What the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol meant for US journalists,” Committee to Protect Journalists, 6 January 2023; “US Capitol riot mob wanted to kill Mike Pence, run Pelosi over with a car,” Alex Turner-Cohen, news.com.au, 11 January 2021.

[6] “41 minutes of fear: A video timeline from inside the Capitol siege,” Dalton Bennett, Emma Brown, Atthar Mirza, Sarah Cahlan, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Meg Kelly, Elyse Samuels and Jon Swaine, Washington Post, 16 January 2021; “Where the Jan. 6 insurrection investigation stands, one year later,” Ryan Lucas, NPR, 6 January 2022.

[7] “Oath Keepers, Proud Boys subpoenaed by Jan. 6 House panel,” Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press, on PBS NewsHourwebsite, 23 November 2021; “What seditious conspiracy means in Proud Boys’ Jan. 6 case,” Alanna Durkin Richer and Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press, 4 May 2023.

[8] “These Are the People Who Died in Connection With the Capitol Riot,” Chris Cameron, New York Times, 5 January 2022 updated 13 October 2022; “January 6 United States Capitol attack,” Wikipedia, accessed 25 April 2025.

[9] “Jan. 6 'likely the largest single-day mass assault' on law enforcement in US history: DC US attorney,” Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 4 January 2024; “Prosecutor says many more police officers likely injured on Jan. 6 than reported,” Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 5 January 2024.

[10] “Jan. 6 'likely the largest single-day mass assault' on law enforcement in US history: DC US attorney,” Alexander Mallin, ABC News, 4 January 2024; “Prosecutor says many more police officers likely injured on Jan. 6 than reported,” Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 5 January 2024.

[11] “Four officers who responded to U.S. Capitol attack have died by suicide,” Jan Wolfe, Reuters, 2 August 2021; “DOJ finds police officer’s suicide after Jan. 6 attack was a death in the line of duty,” Ryan J. Reilly, NBC News, 18 August 2023.

[12] The Jan. 6 attack: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history,” NPR, 1 March 2024.

[13] The Jan. 6 attack: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history,” NPR, 1 March 2024.

[14] The Jan. 6 attack: The cases behind the biggest criminal investigation in U.S. history,” NPR, 1 March 2024.

[15] “Supreme Court makes it harder to charge Capitol riot defendants with obstruction, charge Trump faces,” Mark Sherman, Associated Press, 28 June 2024. See also “Supreme Court says prosecutors improperly charged some Jan. 6 defendants,” Nina Totenberg, NPR, 28 June 2024; "Justice Department drops some January 6 obstruction charges and retools plea deals after Supreme Court ruling," Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN, 18 July 2024.

[16] "Trump gave broad clemency to all Jan. 6 rioters. See their cases in 3 charts," Annette Choi, Alex Leeds Matthews and Marshall Cohen, CNN, 26 January 2025; "What to Know About Trump’s Broad Grant of Clemency to Jan. 6 Rioters: He issued formal pardons to more than 1,550 rioters charged with a wide range of crimes and commuted the sentences of 14 members of far-right groups", Alan Feuer, New York Times, 20 January 2025, updated 23 January 2025.

[17] "Trump gave broad clemency to all Jan. 6 rioters. See their cases in 3 charts," Annette Choi, Alex Leeds Matthews and Marshall Cohen, CNN, 26 January 2025; "What to Know About Trump’s Broad Grant of Clemency to Jan. 6 Rioters: He issued formal pardons to more than 1,550 rioters charged with a wide range of crimes and commuted the sentences of 14 members of far-right groups", Alan Feuer, New York Times, 20 January 2025, updated 23 January 2025.