Van Hollen was walking to the Senate chambers to speak during the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when he was stopped by U.S. Capitol Police telling him that the building was on lockdown due to the storming of the Capitol. He returned to his office, where he remained for the duration of the attack. In the immediate wake of the insurrection, Van Hollen called Trump a "political arsonist" and said "I never thought we would live to see the day that violent mobs seized control of the Capitol. I cry for our country." As Van Hollen waited for the Capitol to be secured, he said he wanted an immediate investigation, calling the perpetrators "a violent mob." He also contrasted the police's treatment of the rioters with events that led to the use of tear gas on peaceful demonstrators, such as Black Lives Matter protests. After Congress returned to session to count the electoral votes, he voted against objections raised by some Republican senators. Van Hollen also called for Trump's "immediate removal" via the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and said, "we should have looked at that option much earlier."