{"id":49532,"date":"2021-01-04T03:02:36","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T10:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorados-new-members-of-congress-hickenlooper-and-boebert-are-sworn-in\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:47:37","slug":"colorados-new-members-of-congress-hickenlooper-and-boebert-are-sworn-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorados-new-members-of-congress-hickenlooper-and-boebert-are-sworn-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado\u2019s new members of Congress \u2013 Hickenlooper and Boebert \u2013 are sworn in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Lauren
Lauren Boebert at a campaign event July 27 in Pueblo.<\/span>Mike Sweeney\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado\u2019s two new members of Congress were sworn into office on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, of Rifle, officially joined the seven other members of Colorado\u2019s congressional delegation.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper begins a six-year term and replaces Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. Boebert was elected to a two-year term and is filling the spot of Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, of Cortez.<\/p>\n

Gardner and Tipton lost in last year\u2019s election.<\/p>\n

Hickenlooper and Boebert join Congress at a fraught moment<\/a>. The coronavirus crisis is still raging. Meanwhile, a group of Republicans, including Boebert, are set this week to challenge President-elect Joe Biden\u2019s win in November.<\/p>\n

Fraud did not spoil the 2020 presidential election, a fact confirmed by election officials across the country. Before stepping down last month, Attorney General William<\/p>\n

\"Former
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper at a &#x201c;car rally&#x201d; at Denver&#x2019;s East High School on Oct. 8.<\/span>Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Barr, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, said there was no evidence of fraud that affected the election\u2019s outcome. Arizona\u2019s and Georgia\u2019s Republican governors, whose states were crucial to Biden\u2019s victory, have also stated that their election results were accurate.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, a dozen Republicans bound for the new Senate, led by Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, and even more in the House have pledged to become a resistance force to Biden\u2019s White House, starting with efforts to subvert the will of American voters. These GOP lawmakers plan to object to the election results when Congress meets on Wednesday to tally his 306-232 Electoral College victory over Trump.<\/p>\n

Vice President Mike Pence, who as president of the Senate, presides over the session and declares the winner, is facing growing pressure from Trump\u2019s allies over that ceremonial role.<\/p>\n

Pence\u2019s chief of staff, Marc Short, said in a statement Saturday that Pence \u201cwelcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a Windsor Republican, signaled Sunday that he won\u2019t challenge Biden\u2019s win<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress has only a narrow role in the presidential election process,\u201d Buck wrote in a statement issued with several other Republican House members. \u201cIts job is to count the electors submitted by the states, not to determine which electors the states should have sent. \u2026 To take action otherwise \u2013 that is, to unconstitutionally insert Congress into the center of the presidential election process \u2013 would amount to stealing power from the people and the states. It would, in effect, replace the electoral college with Congress, and in so doing strengthen the efforts of those on the left who are determined to eliminate it or render it irrelevant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buck is also chairman of the Colorado GOP and is facing pressure from fellow Republicans to join the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough doing so may frustrate our immediate political objectives, we have sworn an oath to promote the Constitution above our policy goals,\u201d the statement added. \u201cWe must count the electoral votes submitted by the states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boebert told KDVR-TV that she would be challenging the Electoral College results, but didn\u2019t cite any evidence as to why.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that states have their role. The courts have theirs,\u201d she said. \u201cI am honored to be a part of this and do my role as a member of Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"House
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi administers the oath to members of the 117th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sunday.<\/span>Erin Scott\/Pool via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Democrat Nancy Pelosi was reelected as House speaker by her party, which retains the majority in the House but with the slimmest margin in 20 years after a surprisingly strong GOP performance in the November election.<\/p>\n

Opening the Senate could be among Mitch McConnell\u2019s final acts as majority leader. Republican control is in question until Tuesday\u2019s runoff elections for two Senate seats in Georgia. The outcome will determine which party holds the chamber.<\/p>\n

The House and Senate were required to convene Sunday, by law, and imposed strict COVID-19 protocols. Elbow bumps replaced handshakes as senators took the oath of office. Fewer family members than usual joined lawmakers at the Capitol. A special enclosed seating section was designed for lawmakers in COVID-19 quarantine, but testing negative for the virus.<\/p>\n

But by day\u2019s end, House lawmakers were hugging and congratulating one another after taking the oath of office in the crowded chamber, an alarming scene during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo say the new Congress convenes at a challenging time would be an understatement,\u201d McConnell said as the chamber opened.<\/p>\n

Still, McConnell said with the start of a new year there are reasons for optimism, \u201clet\u2019s make the American people proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelosi said the top priority is defeating the coronvirus. And \u201cdefeat it we will,\u201d she said to applause.<\/p>\n

The Associated press contributed to this artivle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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