Before taking office, elected officials swear to respect the United States Constitution. But what happens when they are accused of the opposite?

With some Republicans in Congress continuing to support President Donald Trump’s doomed efforts to cancel the election, critics – including the president-elect Joe Biden They claimed to have broken their oath and instead pledged loyalty to Trump.

The oath, which rarely attracts much attention, has become a popular topic in the final days of the Trump presidency, with members of both parties citing it when they met Wednesday to confirm Biden’s victory and a violent rally of Trump supporters. I stormed the US Capitol.

„They’ve also sworn to the Bible in support of the Constitution, and this is where they really go out and be negligent in the line of duty,“ said Christine Todd Whitman, the governor of the former New Jersey state, a republic who served as an EPA official during former President George W. Bush administration. „They swear to uphold the constitution against all our enemies, both abroad and at home, and they are ignoring that.“

Oaths vary slightly between government agencies, but elected officials are generally sworn to defend the constitution. The Senate website says the current section is related to the 1860s, „penned by members of Congress in the era of the Civil War with the aim of entrapping traitors“.

Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski vowed to respect the oath she took and to affirm the results of the presidential election while urging her colleagues to do the same. Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana was spotted in A. Video She posted on social media telling Trump supporters outside the Senate office building that he swore to the Constitution during God’s covenant and asked, „Do we still take that very seriously in this country?“

Corey Britschneider, a professor of political science at Brown University and author of „The Department and the Office: A Handbook of the Constitution for Future Presidents,“ said that the oath should be taken seriously and that Americans should demand its enforcement or „the danger is to the whole system.“ He said he would support placing the blame, which is an official statement of disapproval, of officials who clearly violate their oath.

“The worst thing that can happen is that people roll their eyes at the oath and say, ‚Oh, none of them mean that,‘ and I think what we have to do in a time of crisis is the exact opposite of saying, that means something,” Pritschneider said. „When you break the law, you have to be held accountable, and that’s what really goes back to the American people to get angry when Trump does what he did.“

Republicans who sued Biden’s victory in November or backed it claimed, without evidence, that the election was rigged against Trump. Their cases failed before the courts all the way to the US Supreme Court. Republican and Democratic officials deemed the election results legitimate and free of any widespread fraud.

The oath was frequently mentioned on Wednesday during a joint session of Congress aimed at confirming Biden’s victory. Some Republicans who lodged objections to the election results claimed that their oath was asking them to do so, while Democrats urged their counterparts to respect their oath and assure Biden the next president.

„The oath I swore last Sunday to defend and support the Constitution makes it necessary for me to object to this farce,“ said Rep. Lauren Boubert, the newly elected Republican from Colorado.

As lawmakers met, violent pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol in a revolt aimed at preventing Biden from replacing Trump in the White House. As the authorities struggle to regain control, Biden called on Trump to stick to his oath and move to ease tensions.

Biden said, „I call on President Trump to appear on national television now to fulfill his oath, defend the constitution and demand an end to this blockade.“

Republican efforts to block official confirmation of Biden’s victory ultimately failed after Republicans recycled arguments for fraud and other irregularities that failed to garner support.

The Democrats were quick to condemn the Republicans, who continued to disagree with the results.

Rep. Adam Schiff from California asked, „Did we swear by maintaining the Constitution, just days ago, mean so little? I don’t think so.“ He added, „The oath does not reduce perjury when the annulment fails.“

Representative Corey Bush, a Democrat from Missouri, said she would submit a resolution demanding the expulsion of Republicans who moved to nullify the election results.

„I believe that the Republican members of Congress who instigated this domestic terrorist attack through their attempts to cancel the elections should face consequences,“ chirp. „They have broken their sacred oath in office.“

Michigan State Attorney Dana Nessel said officials who continued to support Trump’s unfounded allegations of fraud violated their oath, and their speech encouraged rioters who stormed the Capitol.

„They have a loyalty they swear – not to the constitution and not to the United States of America, but to one man, and this man is Donald Trump,“ she said. „And they refuse to get away from it no matter what he says, no matter what he does, and I think history won’t judge them kindly for that.“