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- The Pennsylvania State Senate erupted into a screaming match on Tuesday after Republican senators removed Lt. Gov. John Fetterman from his role as Speaker of the Senate.
- GOP senators objected to Fetterman placing Democratic Senator Jim Brewster because his Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli challenged the race results.
- Republican Senator Jake Corman interrupted Fetterman and began a vote to remove him from his post, to which Fetterman protested voluntarily.
- After several minutes of screaming, Fetterman left the chambers and Brewster’s oath was blocked.
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The Pennsylvania State Senate turned into a screaming match during its swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.
The blackout came when Lt. Gov. John Fetterman stepped down as Speaker of the Senate after GOP senators were disrupted during a debate over the seats of Senator Jim Brewster.
Brewster narrowly won her race against Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli in the 45th District by 69 votes.
The election was certified by the Pennsylvania State Department and confirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, however, Ziccarelli is disputing the race results and the case is still pending.
Ziccarelli challenges the legitimacy of the election results on the basis of a discrepancy between how the different counties in the 45th district handled the postal ballots.
In one county, undated postal ballots were rejected, while in another they were allowed. Ziccarelli is asking a judge to reject 311 undated postal ballots, which would alter the election results.
Steps to prevent Brewster from taking the seat were led by Republican Senator Jake Corman and the new Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, who insisted Brewster could not be seated while the case of Ziccarelli was pending.
At one point, Corman refused to allow proceedings to continue until “the gentleman of the 45th [District] withdraws from the rostrum. “
During the heated exchange, Corman then walked to another podium in front of the room and began calling a vote on removing Fetterman from his role as Speaker of the Senate.
Fetterman tried to oppose for several minutes, but was eventually forced to give up his position. In a video of the incident, Corman can be seen calling for a vote to remove Fetterman as Fetterman expresses his outrage.
—The recount (@therecount) January 5, 2021
“You are breaking the Constitution and Commonwealth law and violating the oath of office you actually took. There is nothing on this day that is appropriate and we will not let ourselves down because you have four other people to this side of the aisle, “Fetterman can be heard screaming.
“I had no desire to ruin photo day,” Fetterman told local newspaper The Sharon Herald. “In short, there has to be a way for both sides to maintain their dignity and we can find a way forward. Unfortunately, that was not the case.”
In a statement to the Washington Post, Corman said he had prevented Brewster from sitting in order to ensure “properly elected representation.”
“Ziccarelli’s position is that Pennsylvania election law is quite clear that voters must sign and date their mail-in ballots to be counted,” Corman said. “We understand that this issue must be resolved quickly while ensuring that voters in the 45th Senate District have properly elected representation.”
Gov. Tom Wolf told the Sharon Herald that Fetterman’s expulsion and refusal to seat Brewster was “a shameful takeover that dishonours the institution.”
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