A New Jersey congressman stayed until 3 a.m. to help clean up the Capitol after it was ransacked by a pro-Trump mob

• Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey was photographed cleaning up the Capitol after after Wednesday's attempted coup.
• Kim told GQ that during a break in congressional debates early Thursday morning, he saw the mess in the rotunda and felt moved to do something about it.
• "I didn't want to see it in that state," Kim said.
• Kim's colleagues praised his actions, including Rep. Tom Malinowski who told the Associated Press that seeing Kim cleaning was "the most poignant moment of the long night."

New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim is receiving praise for helping to clean up the Capitol after it was ransacked by President Donald Trump's supporters on Wednesday.

During a break in debates early Thursday morning, Kim says he saw the mess left behind by the rioters in the rotunda and felt compelled to act.

"I was just really affected emotionally. I felt this kind of heightened, kind of supercharged kind of patriotism that I just felt take over," the Democrat told the Associated Press.

Kim said he saw some police officers bagging up pizza boxes they had ordered for dinner, and asked them for a bag so that he could clean up the debris left by the mob.

"I didn't want to see it in that state," Kim told GQ.

Kim told the magazine that he cleaned for about an hour and a half, and that some of the officers helped.

"A photographer caught me doing this and the photographs are going viral online. It was a day of extraordinarily sad images, and I think the image of someone trying to clean up the mess struck a nerve with a lot of folks. I didn't leave the Capitol until about 3 a.m.," Kim said.

Congress had been in session until the early hours of Thursday morning to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

The joint session of Congress was forced to break on Wednesday as the pro-Trump mob overran the complex - with people forced to evacuate - but it reconvened at 8 p.m. ET that night. Lawmakers concluded their count at about 3:45 a.m. on Thursday, confirming Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the 2020 election winners.

Some of Kim's colleagues are praising his actions.

Rep. Tom Malinowski, also a Democrat from New Jersey, told the AP that he felt a swell of emotion when he came upon Kim cleaning.

"I think it was 1 in the morning," Malinowski said. "There were a couple National Guardsman and I noticed somebody on his hands and knees leaning under a bench to pick something up and it was Andy all by himself, just quietly removing debris and putting it in a plastic bag. He was clearly not doing it for an audience."

"It was for me the most poignant moment of the long night," Malinowski added.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy also told the AP that Kim "represents the very best of New Jersey and our nation."

Even Tom MacArthur, the former GOP representative that Kim unseated in 2018, told the AP that he was heartened by his successor's actions.

Footage posted to Twitter by CNN reporter Daniella Diaz early Thursday morning also showed janitors cleaning up the House chamber after the riot, prompting similar praise to the workers and anger at the mob.

—Daniella Diaz (@DaniellaMicaela) January 7, 2021

Reuters has reported that taxpayers will foot the bill for the Capitol to be repaired, since the building is not insured. However, it's unclear so far how much that will cost.

• Read more:
• A New York Times photographer said she was attacked by Capitol rioters, then held at gunpoint by police who didn't believe she was a journalist because the mob took her ID
• American taxpayers will pay for the damage caused by the Capitol riots because the buildings aren't insured, experts say
• US lawmakers shared the desperate calls to loved ones they made while trapped in the House chamber as a pro-Trump mob banged on the doors
• The Pentagon blocked the DC National Guard from receiving riot gear or interacting with protesters without explicit approval from Trump's defense secretary