Pennsylvania state lawmakers denounced violence in Washington on Wednesday after a mob of Trump supporters breached the U.S. Capitol to impede the official count of Electoral College votes.
By Angela Couloumbis & Cynthia Fernandez | Spotlight PA
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (center) confers with Senate Secretary Megan Martin (right), as Sen. Jake Corman (front, center), takes over the session to conduct a vote to remove Fetterman.
Credit: PA General Assembly
The new session of the Pennsylvania Senate got off to a chaotic start Tuesday, with Republicans refusing to seat a Democratic senator whose election victory has been certified by state officials.
Amid high emotions and partisan fingerpointing, Republicans also took the rare step of removing the Democratic lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, from presiding over the session. They apparently did so because they did not believe Fetterman was following the rules and recognizing their legislative motions.
Screenshot of Pa. state Senate livestream Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman in foreground and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in background
What was supposed to be a routine and ceremonial meeting of the Pennsylvania state Senate devolved into chaos on Tuesday, as Republican lawmakers moved to block one Democrat from being sworn in to his seat, and ousted another from his position as their presiding officer.
The floor of the Senate chamber was engulfed in shouting for minutes on end Tuesday after Republican lawmakers motioned to delay the inauguration of incumbent state Sen. Jim Brewster (D-McKeesport) whose 69-vote victory in the Nov. 3 General Election is being challenged by his Republican opponent Nicole Ziccarelli.
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What would normally be a rite of passage in the Pennsylvania Senate, with members being sworn in at the start of a new legislative session, quickly devolved Tuesday into a partisan fight.
Senators returned to Harrisburg and the battle soon started: first over masks and whether state senators should wear them on the Senate floor.
Then it took a sharper turn to whether incumbent Sen. Jim Brewster, a Democrat from McKeesport, Allegheny County, should be seated after a close victory last November.
Republican leaders will delay the swearing in of incumbent Jim Brewster to the 45th senatorial district because of a challenge made by opponent Nicole Ziccarelli.