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Heated confrontation between House members amid debate over Pennsylvania electoral vote count

A brief but tense confrontation unfolded on the floor of the House of Representatives early Thursday morning, with some members appearing ready to come to blows while debating challenges put forth by Republican lawmakers seeking to reverse Biden's win.

Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., used his five minutes to give an impassioned speech during the debate over the Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania.

"These objections don't deserve an ounce of respect. Not an ounce," Lamb said, aiming his comments towards the Republicans in the room. "A woman died out there tonight, and you're making these objections!"

"That attack today, it didn't materialize out of nowhere. It was inspired by lies," he continued. "The members who are repeating those lies should be ashamed of themselves. Their constituents should be ashamed of them."

Rep. Morgan Griffiths, R-Va., then jumped in, attempting to make a point of order and asking for some of Lamb's words to be stricken from the record.

"The gentleman said there were lies on this floor today, looking over this direction. I ask that those words be taken down," Griffiths said to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding Lamb's speech.

Pelosi dismissed Griffiths because he spoke out of turn. Lamb then told Republicans: "The truth hurts."

As Pelosi banged her gavel, attempting to get the lower chamber in order, several members ran toward the back of the room. Sources, as well as reporters who were in the room, told ABC News that House Republicans and Democrats appeared to be confronting each other in the aisle, and a shouting match ensued about who should sit down.

Reps. Andy Harris, R-Md., and Colin Allred, D-Texas, appeared to be on the verge of a fist fight, sources told ABC News. There was shouting, but no punches were thrown.

The heated moment passed just as quickly as it began, and the debate resumed.

The House is expected to vote soon on the Republican objections to certify Pennsylvania's Electoral College ballots. Just hours earlier, the Senate voted 92-7 against the measure.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan


Senate rejects objections to Pennsylvania's electoral votes

The Republican effort to overturn the will of Pennsylvania voters failed in the Senate early Thursday morning by a vote of 7-92.

The upper chamber had completely bypassed debate and went straight to a vote.

After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch said he does not expect any additional challenges to the Electoral College results.

The Senate now stands ready to return to a joint session of Congress, as the Pennsylvania objection goes to the House of Representatives for a vote. Both chambers of Congress must vote in favor of the challenge for it to succeed.

-ABC News' Alllison Pecorin


Objection made for Pennsylvania, House and Senate to vote

As certification of the vote continues in Congress, an objection was made to electors from the state of Pennsylvania, which was supported by both a Republican representative and a senator, forcing a vote.

GOP Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania objected to the state's electoral count, and said he was joined by 80 of his Republican colleagues.

GOP Sen. Josh Hawley objected for the Senate.

The Joint Session of Congress is now on hold, so that the respective chambers can split up for two hours of debate. In the Senate, they chose to skip debate and immediately moved to vote.

When both do vote, the objection is expected to fail, as the one over Arizona's electors did previously.

Earlier, GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama attempted to object to the electoral college votes from Nevada, but because no senators joined him, the objection was not sustained.

"Unfortunately, no United States senator has joined in this effort," Brooks said.

ABC News' Mariam Khan.


Objection to Georgia, Michigan electoral votes fail after no senator signs on

GOP Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia objected to the Georgia electoral votes but said he does not have a senator that will sign on because of the events of Wednesday.

Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler reversed course and said she would not object after the riot activity on the Hill.

After Hice announced senators had withdrawn their objection, there were cheers from the Democratic side.

Additionally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and 70 Republicans are objecting to Michigan, but no senator signed on to support the objection.

-ABC News' Mariam Khan


340 DC National Guardsmen to help DC police around Electoral College demonstrations

At District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser's request, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has activated about 340 unarmed D.C. National Guardsmen to assist local law enforcement with the demonstrations taking place on Wednesday pegged to the Electoral College certification.

"We think it's helpful to have our D.C. Guardsmen, who are our Guard, that I have requested from the Secretary of the Army to assist MPD [Metropolitan Police Department] with traffic management," Bowser said Monday. "It absolutely frees up more officers."

The D.C. Guard is unique in that any call-ups have to be made by the Army secretary and not the jurisdiction’s top elected official -- as is the case with state governors. Additionally, more focus has been given to the call-ups since the controversial presence of D.C. Guardsmen and the use of D.C. Guard helicopters during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations last summer.

"They will be deployed to assist us with crowd management, as well as traffic control in our nation's capital that will allow for the police officers to focus on anyone who's intent on instigating agitating or participating in violence in our city," said D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee. He also labeled any possibility of violence surrounding the protests as "unacceptable" and repeated that carrying firearms is not allowed under D.C. law.

A senior defense official said Bowser put in the request for Guardsmen on Dec. 31 and that it was approved Monday morning. Beginning Tuesday through Thursday, the 340 personnel will help man 30 traffic control checkpoints around the northern side of the downtown area close to the National Mall.

"No one's going to be armed or body armor or anything like that," said the official. "What they need is traffic control."

-ABC News' Luis Martinez and Quinn Owen