Hawley, Cruz face rising anger, possible censure

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are facing a possible vote on a censure resolution in the Senate as Democrats and some Republicans blame them for the mob that attacked the Capitol last week.

Several Democratic senators have called on Hawley and Cruz to resign and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) have called for them to be expelled if they don’t step down voluntarily.

Democratic aides say there is a discussion about censuring the two lawmakers for helping to incite protesters who temporarily halted the counting of the Electoral College last week after overrunning Capitol Police.

Some Republican colleagues are also not happy about Hawley and Cruz, though GOP criticism of the pair tends to be softer than the barbs thrown toward President Trump, who is even more widely blamed for the debacle.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), seated behind the Missouri junior senator, appeared to be glaring at Hawley on Wednesday night after the Senate resumed work following the riot. Hawley at the time was explaining why he was joining challenges to the Electoral College vote.

As the Senate was evacuated earlier, Romney reportedly was heard yelling “this is what you’ve gotten, guys.”

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) told NPR that Hawley “was doing something that was really dumbass” in challenging the Electoral College votes.