Sedition Caucus

Before the Electoral College certification vote, Trump had attempted to overturn the results of the election for two months, promoting the baseless conspiracy theory that he had won and filing dozens of failed lawsuits in various states. On December 2, 2020, Politico reported that Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama was planning to object to the counting of the electoral votes from several states won by Biden.[4] On December 30, 2020, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri became the first senator to announce he would object to the vote certification, meaning the objection would need to be considered by Congress.[5] Following the Capitol riot, several Republican members of Congress who had previously said they would object, including Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, who had announced her intention to object at a campaign rally with Trump, chose not to do so.[6]

Political scientist Sarah Binder noted that the majority of Sedition Caucus members come from very red districts, while Republicans in swing districts mostly voted against the objection.[7] Binder also noted a divide between Senate Republican leadership, which overwhelmingly voted against the objection, and House Republican leadership, which overwhelmingly voted in favor of it, arguing that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy "led the Sedition Caucus" and attracted Republican votes to object.[7]

On January 11, several major corporations pulled political funding for candidates who objected to Biden's victory.[8] On January 21, The Lincoln Project, a conservative but anti-Trump political action committee, announced it would begin targeting the Sedition Caucus in advertisements.[9]

On January 21, the progressive advocacy group Public Citizen published a report finding that Big Tech companies and employees had given nearly $2 million to Sedition Caucus members since 2016.[10][11] On January 27, Public Citizen published a similar report finding that fossil fuel companies and executives had donated $8.8 million to Sedition Caucus members.[12]

Even before the Capitol riot, some political commentators began using the term "Sedition Caucus". One of the earliest known uses of the term is from an Orlando Sentinel editorial on December 31, which noted that "about a dozen senators declared they're joining what's disparagingly being called the Sedition Caucus to overturn the election, despite Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's warnings against such a move."[13] Another early use of the term is by CNN host Jake Tapper on January 3, who said "Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska slammed Hawley and others of the Sedition Caucus saying, 'adults don't point a loaded gun at the legitimate government.'"[14][15] The next day, The Atlantic published a column by Tom Nichols where he used the term, referencing Tapper.[16] In a January 5 column titled "A really bad day for the 'Sedition Caucus'", conservative political columnist Jennifer Rubin used the term to refer to the group of senators, calling them "the 'Sedition Caucus' — or the 'Dirty Dozen,' if you prefer."[lower-alpha 1][17]

The term's use is highly critical. Conservative columnist Max Boot compared Sedition Caucus members to Senator Joseph McCarthy, and argued that they should similarly "see their careers crash and burn."[19] Rubin argued that the senators should be expelled from the Senate or removed from the Republican caucus and Senators Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and John Kennedy should be disbarred, and that members of the House should be primaried or face third party opponents.[18] Several Sedition Caucus members have faced calls for their resignation.[20]

Political scientist Hans Noel said he believed the Sedition Caucus and their "progenitors" come from a common strain of racism, comparing their beliefs to Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories, Shelby County v. Holder, poll taxes, literacy tests, and white primaries.[21]

Michael Latner, a political scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, argued that the Sedition Caucus showed the need for legislation aimed at curbing political power, such as the For the People Act and a renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as additional political parties and different voting systems.[22]

Following the events at the U.S. Capitol, the editorial board of The Capital Times, a newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, argued that the Wisconsin Legislature has its own Sedition Caucus, referencing 15 state legislators who signed a letter to Vice President Mike Pence asking him to reject the Electoral College vote certification.[23]

• Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
• Republican reactions to Donald Trump's claims of 2020 election fraud

• Yourish, Karen; Buchanan, Larry; Lu, Denise (January 7, 2021). "The 147 Republicans Who Voted to Overturn Election Results". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2021.