Westmoreland Democrats call for GOP congressmen to step down

Westmoreland County’s Democratic Committee called on two local Republican congressmen to resign in response to their votes last week objecting to Pennsylvania’s presidential election results following the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Committee chairwoman Tara Yokopenic said in a statement released late Monday that Reps. Guy Reschenthaler and John Joyce “acted in a way that validated that violence and validated the unlawfulness of the riots by casting their votes to invalidate the very legal votes of well-meaning Pennsylvanians.”

Reschenthaler, a second-term Republican from Peters, represents most of Westmoreland County along with portions of Fayette, Greene and Washington counties. Joyce, an Altoona-based Republican, was elected for the second time in November to represent a 10-county area across the central part of Pennsylvania including portions of eastern Westmoreland County.

Both won landslide victories in November over their Democrat opponents.

Yokopenic said both congressmen abetted and fed anger to continue the deep political divide in the country and continued their opposition to election results even after the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

“Our call for them to resign has nothing to do with policy or party. They failed in their duty to protect the most basic institutions of our democracy, they have proven they cannot fairly represent the voters of our state and our county, and as such they should resign from office immediately,” Westmoreland Democrats said in the statement.

Reschenthaler did not return a call seeking comment about the call to resign or the Democrats’ efforts to call on Vice President Mike Pence to work with Cabinet members to remove President Trump from office.

Joyce, in a statement released Tuesday afternoon, did not address the resignation demand but said he opposed the latest impeachment effort.

“Rushing through the impeachment process and bypassing regular order is a disservice to the U.S. Constitution and to our democracy. Like every American, President Trump is entitled both to due process and to equal justice under the law. As we move forward, this is the moment for building national unity and focusing on the peaceful transition of power,” Joyce said.