Republicans Block Inaugural Resolution Recognizing Biden's Win

Republicans on the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies have blocked a resolution stating that they were preparing for the swearing-in of President-elect Joe Biden. The six-member committee, which is evenly split between the two parties, held a vote on the resolution this week, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Roy Blunt, and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy voting against it. The failed vote effectively blocked the committee from publicly recognizing Biden as the incoming president.

According to Newsmax, the committee plans the official ceremonies for the president's swearing-in every four years. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had introduced a resolution seeking approval for the committee "to notify the American people that we are preparing for the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and his Vice President, Kamala Harris, in coordination with the Biden Presidential Inaugural Committee and public health experts to ensure the health and safety of the American people as we observe this transition of power." Hoyer told reporters that the resolution was a recognition that limits should be placed on the numbers of participants at inaugural events.

Hoyer, who joined Sen. Amy Klobuchar and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in voting in favor of the resolution, announced the failed vote Tuesday. In a statement, he slammed his Republican counterparts for continuing to refuse to acknowledge Biden's win. A recent survey conducted by the Washington Post found that only 27 out of the 249 Republicans in Congress acknowledge Biden as the winner of the election, with 220, or 80%, opting not to say who they believe the winner to be and Reps. Paul Gosar and Mo Brooks stating that Trump won.

"The extent to which Republicans are refusing to accept the outcome of the election and recognize Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president is astounding," Hoyer said following the vote.

His complaint, however, was dismissed by Blunt, the committee's chairman. In a statement, Blunt said that "it is not the job of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies to get ahead of the electoral process and decide who we are inaugurating." Blunt added that the panel is "facing the challenge of planning safe Inaugural Ceremonies during a global pandemic" and that he "would hope that, going forward, the members of the JCCIC would adhere to the committee's long-standing tradition of bipartisan cooperation and focus on the task at hand."