Congress finalizes Biden's win after riot disrupts Capitol

The US Secret Service is significantly ramping up coverage and bringing additional agents from the region to the White House, Naval Observatory, and USSS headquarters after today’s unrest, a source familiar with the situation said.

A USSS official also told CNN that Secret Service was the first federal agency deployed when the US Capitol Police asked for assistance from local and federal law enforcement.

The agents on detail for Vice President Mike Pence and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were present today and worked in their roles focused on securing their protectees, but when Capitol Police put out the call for assistance, USSS sent additional uniformed division and special agents to Capitol Hill to assist. They were subsequently joined by other law enforcement agencies, the official said.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced she is extending the public emergency to 15 days, as a result of rioters overtaking the US Capitol building earlier today. This will take the emergency declaration until the day after President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

The mayor says that the people who stormed the Capitol, “sought to disrupt the Congressional proceedings relating to the acceptance of electoral college votes.”

On the floor of the House, New York Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican, echoed President Trump’s claims that poll watchers were banned from counting locations or otherwise prevented from observing the count and denied the access they legally deserved.  

According to Zeldin, “There were poll watchers denied the ability to closely observe ballot counting operation.” 

Facts First: There have been no reports of systematic irregularities with poll watchers anywhere in the US. There is no evidence supporting claims that poll watchers were shut out of the process.  

You can read more about what happened with poll watchers in specific states here.

The House has finished debating the objection to Arizona’s electoral votes.

Rep. Jim Jordan asked for a recorded vote and members are voting now.

The objection already failed in the Senate.

The objection raised against Arizona's electoral votes failed overwhelmingly in the Senate, 93-6.

Here are the six Republican senators who voted to sustain the objection:

Safety precautions put in place to protect members of Congress amid the pandemic are likely to add even more time to the Electoral College vote count process tonight.

The whole process was already delayed today after riots at the Capitol interrupted the counting and certification of elector votes.

Since the start of the pandemic, the House and Senate have both attempted to limit the number of members congregating on the floor during votes and have done so in a way that means voting now takes longer than it did previously in both chambers. 

As a result, it is expected that each challenge could add roughly three to four hours to the proceedings this afternoon.  

In the House, voting now typically proceeds by groups of members as opposed to allowing all members to vote at one time. In the Senate, votes are now usually held open longer in an effort to discourage crowding. Even with those precautions, though, there are frequently still crowds of members on the floor when votes happen.  

In a memo obtained by CNN, official guidance from the Sergeant At Arms and the House physician informed members that they should only physically go to the joint session of Congress this afternoon if they are going to speak — another effort to try to cut down on crowding on the floor. 

Following the Senate vote on Arizona's electoral college votes, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said they must now wait on the House of Representatives to vote later tonight.

"We have a few more speakers now as we wait for the House to finish their debate and vote. Expect the House to finish voting on Arizona between 11:30 p.m. and midnight," McConnell said.

Here's a breakdown of what is happening tonight:

The Senate just voted on the objection raised against Arizona's electoral votes. It failed overwhelmingly, 93-6.

Remember: At each objection put in writing and signed by both a congressman and senator, the joint session is paused and the House and Senate adjourn to separately consider it.

Following this vote, Congress will now return to a joint session and continue to count the Electoral College votes.

Watch the moment:

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has been a staunch supporter of President Trump, vigorously defended to certify the electoral votes on the Senate floor.

Graham said he believed voting to object the results are a “uniquely bad idea to delay this election."

"Trump and I, we've had a hell of a journey. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view he's been been a consequential president. But today, first thing you'll see. All I can say, is count me out, enough is enough," Graham said.

Graham defended his stance by citing a number of cases in which Trump had lost, including the Wisconsin Supreme Court's decision on election results.

"We've got to end it. Vice President Pence, what they're asking you to do you won't do, because you can't," he said.

Graham ended his remarks by fully backing the election results. "It is over... [Biden] won. He's the legitimate President to the United States... Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will become the President and the Vice President of the United States on January 20," he said.

Watch Graham speak: