Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said on Wednesday that she would not object to the Electoral College vote, reversing course after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
“What we have seen today is unlawful and unacceptable,” Rodgers said in a statement. “I have decided I will vote to uphold the Electoral College results and I encourage Donald Trump to condemn and put an end to this madness.”
Rioters raided the Capitol as Congress was meeting to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, forcing lawmakers to evacuate. Both chambers were separately debating an objection to Arizona’s electors when the mob forced them to gavel out of session.
Amid the violence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office was vandalized, and a woman died after being shot as demonstrators were entering the Capitol.
Rodgers slammed the violence, saying “thugs assaulted Capitol Police Officers, breached and defaced our Capitol Building, put people’s lives in danger, and disregarded the values we hold dear as Americans. To anyone involved, shame on you.”
She added that the only reason she objected was to “give voice to the concern that governors and courts unilaterally changed election procedures without the will of the people and outside of the legislative process.”
“I have been consistent in my belief that Americans should utilize the Constitutional tools and legal processes available to seek answers to their questions about the 2020 election,” she said.
Despite the violence, lawmakers are planning to complete the certification on Wednesday night.