WASHINGTON — As the Capitol was overtaken by a violent mob Wednesday, quick-thinking floor staff grabbed the wooden Electoral College mahogany boxes from the well of the Senate chamber and took them out, along with the crush of evacuating senators.
The insurrection, and attack on democracy itself by the pro-Trump rioters, halted the debate over certification of the Electoral College votes of Arizona, which favored President-elect Joe Biden, in both chambers shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday. But the pluck of the staff and the resilience of lawmakers enabled both chambers to resume consideration after the Capitol was secured, with the Senate gaveling back in shortly after 8 p.m. and the House soon after.
The House and Senate had retreated to their respective chambers to consider the Arizona objection when the Capitol itself was overrun by the mob.
While the Senate session was underway, reporter Paul Kane from The Washington Post ran out of the Senate chamber, shouting, “Pence just left, Pence left the chamber!” That was one of the first indications that the continuity of government, in the form of Vice President Mike Pence’s protective detail moving him to safety, was under threat.
When the Capitol was officially locked down, reporters huddled in the balcony of the Senate chamber overlooking lawmakers. It became clear that while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other top senators were present, President Pro Tempore Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, who is third in line to be president after the vice president and speaker, was not in the chamber.
Across the Capitol, a similarly astounding scene was playing out in the House. Speaking from the rostrum, a Capitol Police officer told lawmakers that the chamber was in lockdown due to a breach of the building, as of shortly before 2:30 p.m.
He urged members not to leave the building. The House came back into session briefly, but with the violent protesters in Statuary Hall and all over the building, lawmakers were being evacuated.
This was the point in the day when there were shots fired just outside the House chamber, and House Rules Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., was heard telling colleagues to use gas masks because there was teargas deployed in the hallways.
As senators were being rushed through hallways, tunnels and stairwells to a more secure location, Senate Rules and Administration Chairman Roy Blunt and top Democrat Amy Klobuchar kept finding themselves within a pace or two of each other among the crush of people.
“We could have a Rules Committee meeting right now,” another senator quipped, easing the tense and frantic mood of the evacuation.
Lawmakers, members of the news media and support personnel were held in locations across the congressional campus while law enforcement worked to clear the Capitol.
It was the first armed incursion of the Capitol since 1998, when Capitol Police Detective John M. Gibson and Officer Jacob J. Chestnut were shot and killed by a lone gunman. On Wednesday, at least one person was shot and killed.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who has opposed the effort to overturn the presidential election, was locked down in his office on Capitol Hill.
“The objectors over the last two days have told me there is no problem with just having a debate … We won’t actually overturn our entire system of representative government, so nothing bad will happen, there will be no cost to this effort,” Gallagher said in a video message. “This is the cost. This is the cost of countenancing an effort by Congress to overturn the election, and telling thousands of people there is a legitimate shot of overturning the election today.”
Both the House and Senate chambers were ultimately evacuated, with reported shots fired and Capitol Police in armed standoffs with rioters attempting to seize control of the floors.