Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah has offered to "personally escort" Pennsylvania Senator-elect Dave McCormick to the new-senator orientation at the Capitol. This comes after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, moved to block McCormick's attendance. Schumer's spokesperson stated that McCormick was not invited because there were still "over 100,000 ballots left to be counted" in Pennsylvania's Senate race, claiming that the contest "has not been decided."
McCormick, a Republican, is leading the race against three-term Democratic incumbent Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey by a margin of 0.58%, just above the margin that triggers an automatic recount. The Associated Press has called the race in favor of McCormick, but Casey has not conceded, citing the thousands of ballots still to be counted.
In response to Schumer's decision, other Republican senators, including Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri, have also offered to escort McCormick to the Senate orientation. They argue that McCormick deserves to be at the orientation alongside every other member of his freshman class.
McCormick, on his part, has stated that there is no mathematical path for Senator Casey to win, given his current lead of approximately 40,000 votes. He believes that it is only a matter of time before Casey acknowledges the results.