US House Speaker Pelosi insists Congress will proceed with Biden certification

Despite violent protests by President Donald Trump’s supporters at the United States Capitol building as Congress leaders sat to certify the election of President-elect, Joe Biden, House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has insisted that leaders of Congress will proceed with the certification.

In a letter to her colleagues, Pelosi announced that the Congress leaders will reconvene the joint session to certify Biden’s win once the Capitol is “cleared for use.”

According to the letter made available to the CNN, Pelosi said:

“In consultation with Leader Hoyer and Whip Clyburn and after calls to the Pentagon, the Justice Department and the Vice President, we have decided we should proceed at the Capitol once it is cleared for use. Leader Hoyer will be sending out more guidance later today.”

In a last ditch effort to overturn the outcome of the November 3 presidential election in the US, Trump’s supporters had stormed the Capitol in Washington during a joint session of Congress held to certify Biden’s win, which led to violent protest, in what many called a coup attempt.

The violence which came shortly after a rally by Trump challenging his defeat saw flag-waving supporters confronting police and breaking down barricades outside the Capitol before they pushed their way inside the building, forcing the session to be disrupted as Congress leaders scampered for safety.