A resolution for the House Ethics Committee to investigate and potentially expel the 139 House Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election last week now has 54 co-sponsors. Introduced by Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, the resolution calls for the Committee to determine whether the GOP members violated the Constitution in last week’s vote.
The resolution calls out Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) and Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) as leaders of “a politically motivated and last-ditch effort to overthrow the election.” It also calls on the House of Representatives to condemn the disenfranchisement of Black, Brown and Indigenous voters.
Bush introduced the legislation on Monday with 47 co-sponsors at the time. Seven more representatives have joined in since then. Co-sponsors include members of the progressive “squad” — Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), Jamaal Bowman (D-New York), Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), and others. Over 500,000 people have signed a petition in support of the bill. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has not publicly supported the bill but has indicated her gratefulness toward Democrats pursuing the expulsion.
The freshman Congresswoman has had the bill on her mind since new members were sworn in on the 3rd, she told The Intercept. On the 8th, Bush tweeted: “Expel the Republican members of Congress who incited the white supremacist attempted coup.”
But the timing of the bill has undoubtedly helped it gain support — shortly after the violent breach of the Capitol on January 6, 147 members of Congress still voted to overturn the results of the election, despite the evidence that the movement to do so was fueling violence against Congress itself.
In the house of Congress, there are also a handful of senators calling for Cruz and Hawley to resign because of their roles in the January 6 coup attempt.
Republicans have also come under fire recently for their refusals to walk through metal detectors that were installed after last week’s violent white supremacist mob breached the Capitol. The security measure has caused shouting matches to erupt between Republicans and Capitol Police, CNN reports. Reporters have witnessed many Republicans sidestepping the detectors or pushing through into the House chambers even after setting off the detectors.
“To my colleagues who won’t go through the metal detectors: Have you ever had a job before?,” Bush tweeted. “If you won’t abide by the rules of this job, go find another one.”
To my colleagues who won’t go through the metal detectors:
Have you ever had a job before? If you work at McDonald’s and you don’t wear the uniform, you don’t work that day.
If you won’t abide by the rules of this job, go find another one 👋🏾 https://t.co/rPO2xek1iB
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 13, 2021
Pelosi has announced that, starting next week, representatives will face a fine for attempting to bypass the metal detectors: $5,000 for the first time, and $10,000 for a second offense, to be deducted from the lawmakers’ salaries.
The presence of the metal detectors “contributed to a sense of roiling fury in Congress,” CNN wrote, that preceded the impeachment proceedings that took place on Wednesday, during which Trump was impeached for the second time.
Removing Trump has been popular among the public, as FiveThirtyEight reports that 52.7 percent support removing him from office.
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