Biden used his inauguration speech to urge unity after a tumultuous four years capped off by the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol when a mob of Trump supporters breached security as now-former Vice President Pence and members of Congress were ratifying Biden s electoral victory.
“To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy: unity,” Biden said.
Biden is taking over a government that is deeply divided, with tensions in Washington running high amid an unprecedented level of security around the Capitol complex following the riot Jan. 6 that left five people dead.
Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), a top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, blasted the $1.9 trillion relief package unveiled by President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday as “a colossal waste and economically harmful.”
Graham, who has been aligned closely with President Trump for most of the past four years, said the mob that stormed the Capitol last week should be held accountable, but that Republicans should not support impeachment.
“To my Republican colleagues who legitimize this process, you are doing great damage not only to the country, the future of the presidency, but also to the party. . The individuals who participated in the storming of the Capitol should be met with the full force of the law. They should and will be held accountable, Graham said in the statement.
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In addition to releasing a public statement, Graham has been privately calling his colleagues for several days urging them to oppose convicting Trump as part of the Senate trial, a spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.
Wednesday’s mob attack endangered lawmakers, staff, members of the press and a beleaguered Capitol Police force that was badly outnumbered.
One police officer died after being hit with a fire extinguisher, and a woman who was part of the mob was shot and killed as she tried to reach the Speaker’s lobby just outside the House floor.
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Days after the ugly episode, it is becoming increasingly clear that it could have been even worse.
There have been reports of rioters searching for Speaker Nancy Pelosi
A photographer for Reuters, Jim Bourg, said he heard three older white men wearing red “MAGA” hats talking about finding Pence to hang him as a “traitor.”
“In protecting our Constitution and our Democracy, we will act with urgency, because this President represents an imminent threat to both,” Pelosi wrote. “As the days go by, the horror of the ongoing assault on our democracy perpetrated by this President is intensified and so is the immediate need for action.”
Pelosi, who was personally targeted by some members of the pro-Trump mob in Wednesday’s insurrection, said Democrats will try to adopt Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin
If that fails, Democrats will bring it to the floor on Tuesday as they try to push for Pence, who was also a target for the rioters, to respond within 24 hours. Democrats, and some Republicans, are supportive of Pence invoking the 25th Amendment, which would allow the VP and a majority of the Cabinet to sideline Trump.