On January 6 and 7, 2021, three days after taking his Senate seat, Kansas Senator Roger Marshall voted to sustain the objections to Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes for Joe Biden, after announcing "That is why I will be supporting objection and debate next week." He cast the votes despite no evidence that election results were invalid and hours after a mob had stormed the Capitol and delayed the certification.
In June 2026, Marshall voted against all six attempts to bar or limit payments from the administration's Anti-Weaponization Fund, from which pardoned January 6 rioters had sought payouts, including amendments to bar payments to people convicted of assaulting officers that day. He voted to confirm Emil Bove to a lifetime appeals court seat on a 50 to 49 vote after Bove had ordered the firing of January 6 prosecutors, and to confirm Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche and Kash Patel, whose Justice Department and FBI prosecuted the President's critics and fired agents who had investigated him.
Roger Marshall's Votes on the 2020 Election, January 6 Payouts and the Justice Department
- Marshall Voted to Throw Out Arizona's and Pennsylvania's Electoral Votes in January 2021. On January 6, 2021, Roger Marshall voted yes on sustaining the objection to Arizona's electoral votes, which failed 6 to 93, and early on January 7 he voted yes on sustaining the objection to Pennsylvania's electoral votes, which failed 7 to 92. NPR listed "Marshall, R-Kan." among the senators who backed the objections. Three days earlier he had joined an effort to block counting of Electoral College votes, saying "we must hold accountable any state that disregarded the law" and "That is why I will be supporting objection and debate next week." Marshall cast the votes despite no evidence that election results were invalid and after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and delayed the certification of Biden's win, the Lawrence Journal-World reported. More than 140 officers were injured in the attack, according to Justice Department figures that also show rioters, 608 of whom were charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement.
- Marshall Voted Six Times Against Barring Payments to January 6 Rioters From the Anti-Weaponization Fund in June 2026. During the June 4-5, 2026 debate on the Secure America Act, Marshall voted against every attempt to bar or limit payments from the Anti-Weaponization Fund: Senator Chuck Schumer's motion to send the bill back to committee with instructions covering payments to the fund, which failed 49 to 50, so Marshall's yes vote would have adopted it; amendments to bar payments to people convicted of certain crimes, to individuals convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021 and to certain individuals; an amendment to compensate officers who defended the Capitol that day; and limits on judgments and settlements under the law the fund relied on. The Senate passed the bill after rejecting repeated attempts by members of both parties to prohibit or restrict the fund. The motion's instructions, printed in the Congressional Record, named payments under section 1304 of title 31 being used for or transferred to the Anti-Weaponization Fund. The fund was a $1.776 billion settlement fund created in Trump's lawsuit against the IRS, and pardoned January 6 rioters sought payouts from it until a judge has frozen the fund’s formation; two officers are suing to stop payments from a new fund. The fund was never created: senators confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general only after Blanche formally rescinded the plan last week, and Blanche said he and the president would support passing a similar measure through Congress.
- Marshall Cast One of the 50 Votes That Gave Emil Bove a Lifetime Appeals Court Seat After He Fired January 6 Prosecutors. On July 29, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Emil Bove as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a lifetime appointment; he was confirmed 50 to 49, so a no vote from Marshall would have defeated the nomination. Marshall had also voted for cloture on July 24. Before the vote, the record showed that Bove, as acting deputy attorney general, had ordered the firing of a group of prosecutors involved in those Jan. 6 criminal cases and had, as the department's acting No. 2 official, accepted Sassoon's resignation when the U.S. attorney refused his order to drop the Eric Adams corruption case. A fired department lawyer alleged that Bove had suggested the Trump administration may need to ignore judicial commands, a claim Bove denies, the Associated Press reported.
- Marshall Cast One of the 50 Votes That Made Todd Blanche Attorney General in August 2026. On August 8, 2026, Marshall voted to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, and he was confirmed 50 to 49, so the nomination would have failed without Marshall's vote. Marshall had voted to confirm Blanche as deputy attorney general on March 5, 2025. In April 2026, as acting attorney general, Blanche was asked about Trump having publicly implored her to indict several of his political enemies, referring to Bondi, and said Americans should be "happy" the President is deeply involved in the department, NBC News reported.
- Marshall Voted to Confirm Pam Bondi, Whose Justice Department Prosecuted Trump's Critics. On February 4, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general. Under Bondi and Blanche the department indicted James Comey and Letitia James in the fall of 2025, and a judge tossed both cases after finding the prosecutor unlawfully appointed. Protect Democracy, which tracks such cases, found that "Most of those cases have failed".
- Marshall Voted to Confirm Kash Patel, Whose FBI Fired Agents Who Investigated Trump. On February 20, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director; he was confirmed 51 to 49. Patel's FBI fired at least two FBI agents involved in past investigations into President Donald Trump and fires special agents who worked on Jack Smith's probe, and on October 15, 2026 nine fired FBI employees filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche.
- Marshall Voted to Confirm Jeanine Pirro, Whose Office Tried to Indict Members of Congress. On August 2, 2025, Marshall voted to confirm Jeanine Pirro as U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., and she was confirmed 50 to 45. Her office investigated Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin and five other Democratic lawmakers over a video telling service members they may refuse illegal orders, and a grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin on February 10, 2026.
- Marshall Voted Against Requiring a Governor's Consent Before Troops Deploy in a State in October 2025. On October 9, 2025, Marshall voted against an amendment to the defense bill to clarify certain limitations on full-time National Guard duty performed in a State, which would have required the governor's consent, and against an amendment to limit the provision of support by the Armed Forces to civilian law enforcement activities. Both failed. National Guard troops have patrolled Washington, D.C. since August 2025, at a peak of about 5,000, the Associated Press reported in October 2026.
- Marshall Did Not Answer the Lawrence Journal-World on Whether Biden Was Lawfully Elected. On January 7, 2021, the Lawrence Journal-World asked Marshall whether they believe Biden was lawfully elected, among other questions about his objection votes; the paper could not reach him, and he did not immediately respond to questions sent to him via the contact form on his website. His two votes to sustain the objections, on Arizona and Pennsylvania, went unexplained to the Kansas paper, which wrote that he and a House colleague were not answering questions Thursday to account for their actions.
What Roger Marshall's January 6 Votes Meant for Kansas Voters and the Rule of Law
- Kansas's senator against the count. The Lawrence Journal-World reported that Marshall and Kansas Representative Jake LaTurner voted in effect to overturn the presidential election results by objecting to the certification of Biden's victory in the Electoral College.
- January 6 pardons. At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by President Trump for January 6 have since faced other charges, Lawfare found, and in 2026 pardoned rioters sought payouts from the $1.776 billion fund whose limits Marshall voted against.
Frequently Asked Questions About Roger Marshall on Democracy and January 6
What is Roger Marshall's record on democracy and January 6 under Trump?
Roger Marshall voted in January 2021 to sustain the objections to Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes, hours after the attack on the Capitol. In 2026 he voted against every attempt to bar payments from the Anti-Weaponization Fund to January 6 rioters, and he cast deciding votes to confirm Emil Bove to a lifetime judgeship and Todd Blanche as attorney general. He also voted to confirm the Justice Department and FBI leaders whose prosecutions of the President's critics mostly failed.
Did Roger Marshall object to the 2020 election results?
Yes. Roger Marshall voted to sustain the objection to Arizona's electoral votes on January 6, 2021, which failed 6 to 93, and the objection to Pennsylvania's electoral votes early on January 7, which failed 7 to 92. NPR reported that only six senators, all Republicans, sustained the Arizona objection.
Did Roger Marshall vote to let January 6 rioters receive payments?
Roger Marshall voted on June 5, 2026 against an amendment to bar payments from the Anti-Weaponization Fund to individuals convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6, 2021, and against one to compensate officers who defended the Capitol. The fund was never created after the Justice Department rescinded the plan in August 2026, so no payments were made from it.
How did Roger Marshall vote on Emil Bove?
Roger Marshall voted to confirm Emil Bove to the Third Circuit on July 29, 2025, and the 50 to 49 margin meant his vote was needed. Republicans confirmed him as Republicans dismissed whistleblower complaints about his conduct at the Justice Department, the Associated Press reported.
Last updated: 2026-10-25