Trump ally Kelly Loeffler and others drop plans to object to Biden’s electoral college win

Senate moved closer to certifying Joe Biden’s presidency as some called for Trump’s removal

Republican lawmakers who had vowed to object to the Electoral College votes from states making Joe Biden the president-elect in a long-shot attempt to hand Donald Trump a second term began to stand down after pro-Trump rioters busted into the United States Capitol.

"We're headed towards the certification of Joe Biden to be the president of the United States,” Oklahoma Senator James Lankford, one of the 12 GOP senators who announced they would join House Republicans’ objections, said on the Senate floor as Congress got back to work on a historic day – for all the wrong reasons – in Washington.

A few minutes later, outgoing GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler, who lost her reelection bid Tuesday night, said she no longer planned to join a House Republican in objecting.

"The events that have transpired today have forced me to reconsider, and I cannot now, in good conscience, object to the certification of these electors,” she said to applause on the Senate floor.

Presiding over the session, Vice President Mike Pence applauded.

But Missouri’s Josh Hawley signaled he intends to join any further House objections.

“What we’re doing here is actually very important," he told his fellow senators. "For those who have concerns … this is the appropriate means."

Utah’s Mitt Romney, a former GOP presidential nominee who noted he once lost a national race and “it’s no fun,” delivered a passionate speech calling for Mr Biden’s certification.

“No congressional audit is ever going to convince these voters, particularly when the president will continue to say the election was stolen. The best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth," he said to applause.

Others, including Tennessee GOP Senator Marsha Blackburn, were planning to drop their objection plans.

Texas GOP Congressman Chip Roy said in that chamber’s debate that Mr Trump was wrong to whip the rally crowd into a frenzy and encourage them to storm the Capitol.

Alabama’s Mo Brooks, the first GOP member to announce he would object – adhering to Mr Trump’s whims – said it is “my Constitutional duty” to object, arguing many states’ election systems are “unreliable” and “untrustworthy.” 

As those lawmakers spoke, major media outlets reported some of the president’s Cabinet officials were discussing using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. That addition to the US Constitution allows a sitting Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to inform senior lawmakers that a sitting president is unable to perform the duties of the office.

If that many Cabinet officials sign on, the Vice President would immediately become the acting president. 

A group of Democrats from the House Judiciary Committee released a letter urging Mr Pence to use the 25th to remove his boss immediately.