"I have St. Louis in my bag. That's how it feels. When I walk into the House Chambers, I am bringing St. Louis with me,” said Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush, who readies for morning press interviews inside her office in the Longworth House office building on her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — As a mob broke into the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in an unprecedented, desperate attempt to challenge President Donald Trump’s loss to President-elect Joe Biden, Rep. Cori Bush called for the expulsion of House Republicans who publicly sought to discredit the results of the Nov. 3 election. Among those Republicans: U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, who Bush said has “blood on his hands.”
The St. Louis Democrat published a draft resolution calling on the House Ethics Committee to investigate whether the Republican lawmakers violated their oath to uphold the U.S. House Constitution by publicly objecting to a routine certification of electoral votes.
I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences. They have broken their sacred Oath of Office.
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) January 6, 2021
I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion. pic.twitter.com/JMTlQ4IfnR
Bush, who was among lawmakers forced to evacuate to safety, also called for an immediate, second impeachment of Trump, whose term ends at noon on Jan. 20. A freshman lawmaker, Bush is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, the government chamber’s investigative arm that has the ability to assess potential articles of impeachment.
“I hope to see that happen,” Bush told National Public Radio on Wednesday afternoon, “And he deserves jail. He deserves to go to jail for what he’s doing.... He incited what happened today.”
As a member of @HouseJudiciary, I am calling for the immediate impeachment of Donald Trump & his removal from office. I’m also calling for the expulsion of @GOP members of Congress complicit in inciting the attack on our nation’s Capitol.
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) January 7, 2021
Their actions must have consequences.
The storming of the Capitol followed months of repeated false claims of election fraud by Trump, and public statements by Republican lawmakers, including Hawley, that they planned to object to votes of several states that voted for Biden.
More than 140 Republicans in the House also said they would object to the certification of the Electoral College vote. Among those who did object Wednesday were five of Missouri’s six Republican U.S. representatives: Billy Long, Vicky Hartzler, Sam Graves, Jason Smith and Blaine Luetkemeyer.
The Republicans’ spurious claims, Bush said, had incited a “domestic terror attack.”
“I believe the Republican members of Congress who have incited this domestic terror attack through their attempts to overturn the election must face consequences,” Bush said in a tweet. “They have broken their sacred Oath of Office.”
“I will be introducing a resolution calling for their expulsion.”
She later directly criticized Hawley. In a tweet, she said, “Josh Hawley said he was doing this for the people of Missouri. Let me tell you something, Josh. You are supposed to represent St. Louis too, but you do not speak for us. You have blood on your hands, and that’s why I’m calling for your removal from Congress.”
Josh Hawley said he was doing this for the people of Missouri. Let me tell you something, Josh. You are supposed to represent St. Louis too, but you do not speak for us.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) January 7, 2021
You have blood on your hands, and that’s why I’m calling for your removal from Congress. https://t.co/n0z68lZk4D
Bush published a draft form of the resolution in a tweet about 3 p.m. Wednesday, as U.S. lawmakers, staff and Capitol press were forced to flee government buildings or seek shelter from Trump supporters damaging property and fighting with law enforcement.
The resolution would be among Bush’s first actions after she was sworn into office Sunday, becoming the first Black woman to represent Missouri in Congress.
Bush, 44, won election in November after unseating ten-term incumbent William Lacy Clay in the August Democratic primary. Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, which includes St. Louis and north St. Louis County, is overwhelmingly Democratic.
Bush, whose political campaign grew out of her activism in Ferguson protesting the police killing of Mike Brown, said police had responded more forcefully to the Ferguson unrest than they did as a mob broke into the Capitol and threatened lawmakers.
“My team and I are safe. I am in disbelief. I can’t believe domestic terrorists are roaming around inside the Capitol,” Bush said in a tweet Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m remembering being brutalized and treated like a domestic terrorist just for protesting to keep my people alive.”
Speaking to MSNBC, Bush said that Capitol police “allowed” the mob to storm the complex, despite lawmakers being informed in advance of planned protests on Wednesday.
“We get this pushback and this brutality from police and then today we have people who actually stormed the U.S. Capitol….people who put our lives in danger….and they allowed it," Bush said.
“We weren’t protected.”
Updated at 8:26 a.m. Thursday, noting her criticism of U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.
Josh Hawley is rebuked by the father of the modern Missouri Republican Party, but it is Danforth's party no more.
Dozens of pro-Trump protesters remain on the streets of the nation’s capital in defiance of the curfew imposed after rioters stormed the Capit…
Cori Bush was sworn in just days ago
"I have St. Louis in my bag. That's how it feels. When I walk into the House Chambers, I am bringing St. Louis with me,” said Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush, who readies for morning press interviews inside her office in the Longworth House office building on her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Surrounded by the cheers and cameras of family and friends, Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush reacts to seeing a sign bearing her name and title outside her office in the Longworth House office building on her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
"I am overjoyed, excited, happy, nervous, overwhelmed and honored all at the same time, but I am ready," said Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush, who presses her hand over her Congressional pin on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
After receiving her Congressional pin, Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush walks down the Capitol steps with assistance of staffer Jack Besser on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
"I am coming from a place of understanding what it is like to be a regular person in our community. I am a registered nurse. Before I was a registered nurse I was a working in childcare making in minimum wage, trying to raise two children. I have lived unhoused, lived pay check to paycheck, with no health insurance. I live in a place where I hear gunshots throughout the night and the day.... being in this position what it means to me finally a regular person in our community have voice, not that I know it all but I will be listening to it all ," said Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush, who readies for morning press interviews inside her office in the Longworth House office building on her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Friends and family pray while Stephany Spaulding anoints her long-time friend Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush with oils inside Bush's office in the Longworth House office building on her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush's best friend Kenyatta Griffin, left, and Bush's children Zion and Angle Noland arrive with family and friends at the Longworth House office building on Bush's swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) stops Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush in the tunnel as she was en route to the Capitol to cast her vote on her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Friends and family pray while Stephany Spaulding anoints her long-time friend Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush with oils inside Bush's office in the Longworth House office building on her swearing in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
True to her claim of being the "queen of sparkle", Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush's nails sparkle as she touches her Congressional pin on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush walks down the hall to her office in the Longworth House office building to cheers of her family and friends on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington D.C. It was the first time Bush saw the office furnished and with the sign posted outside with her name and title. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
"It's official," said Congresswoman Cori Bush, as she walks into her office to applauding family, friends and staff after being sworn in as part of the 117th class of Congress on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Jihad Khayyam, director of community outreach at Better Family Life in St. Louis, left, and Bush's cousin Frederick Johnson of Michigan, erupt in applause as Congresswoman Cori Bush walks into her office after being sworn in on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Friends and family pray while friend Stephany Spaulding anoints her long-time friend Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush with oils inside Bush's office in the Longworth House office building on the morning of her swearing-in day on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) takes a selfie with Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush, left, standing next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other progressive members of the Squad Ayanna Pressley,( D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.) and Congressman-elect Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) in the cafeteria of the Capitol before Bush was sworn in on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021, in Washington D.C.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi administers the oath of office to members of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021. Cori Bush is to the left of the aisle, three rows from the front. (Tasos Katopodis/Pool via AP)
Nassim Benchaabane
Reporter covering breaking news and crime by night. Born in Algeria but grew up in St. Louis. Previously reported for The Associated Press in Jackson, Mississippi and at the Wichita Eagle in Wichita, Kansas.
