Congress has gathered to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s election under the tightest national security level possible. Layers of tall black fencing flank the U.S. Capitol complex in a stark reminder of what happened on January 6 four years ago.
What To Know:
- What to expect: With pomp and tradition, the day is expected to unfold as it has countless times before, with the arrival of ceremonial mahogany boxes filled with the electoral certificates from the states.
- New changes to look for: Under changes to the Electoral Count Act, it now requires one-fifth of lawmakers, instead of just one in each chamber, to raise any objections to election results. With security as tight as it is for the Super Bowl or the Olympics, law enforcement is on high alert for intruders. No tourists will be allowed.
- Harris to preside over counting: As is the requirement for the vice president, Harris will certify her own defeat — much the way Democrat Al Gore did in 2001 and Republican Richard Nixon in 1961.
8 min ago
A stunningly ordinary certification comes to an end
After going through all the certificates for 50 states and D.C., Congress anticlimactically certified the 2024 election for Trump and Vance.
It happened with little fanfare with some members taking breaks from looking at the dais to check their phones or engage in conversations with their neighbors.
Harris ended it with the words: “The chair declares this joint session dissolved.”
She shook hands and kissed a few members on the cheek before being swept away.
The tallying of the electoral votes has been completed
Vice President Kamala Harris announced the tally as President-elect Donald Trump receiving 312 votes and Harris herself receiving 226 votes.
Her announcements of both received raucous cheers in the chamber.
When she announced Trump’s victory, she smiled tightly as Republicans gave a standing ovation.
JUST IN: Trump is certified as the winner of the 2024 election without challenge, a stark contrast to the violence of 4 years ago
15 min ago
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal says in post that ‘we will not forget’ what happened during Jan. 6 riot
Democrats who were trapped in the House gallery four years ago when Donald Trump’s supporters were trying to break down the doors to the chamber posed for a photo in the same spot ahead of this year’s Jan. 6 certification.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal posted it on X and wrote “we will not forget.”
Loud applause and some standing ovation as the electoral certificates from Ohio were given to native JD Vance
JD Vance is sitting in the front row of the chamber as tellers count the votes of his own election victory
The vice president-elect sat calmly as the chamber clapped for the announcement that his home state cast its electoral votes for the Trump-Vance ticket.
Harris is handing the certificates to the people reading them
As the results are announced, she stands with her hands clasped in front of her.
The designated tellers have begun the formal process of reading each state’s electoral certificates
Lawmakers clapped after the reading of each state’s results.
The first state where electoral votes went to Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz was California and received a round of applause from Democrats.
The electoral certificate for Georgia going to Trump and Vance received an outburst of cheers from a few members of the GOP delegation, including staunch Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Vice President-elect JD Vance also walked down the path of the House floor
He was greeted by Republican members. Vance will be in attendance as a senator as his and President-elect Donald Trump’s victory is certified by Congress.
Three boxes containing the official Electoral College tally were escorted across the Capitol by armed security
Vice President Kamala Harris and members of the Senate were in tow.
Senators filed into the House, greeting their House colleagues on both sides of the aisle
It’s a reunion for many, including new senators Adam Schiff of California and Ruben Gallego of Arizona who were until last week members of the House.
Many of the Republicans attending Monday’s joint session say they’re prepared to ‘vote’ to certify Trump’s win
But it’s unlikely there will be any voting Monday.
The only time Congress votes on the Electoral College results is when someone lodges a successful objection to a state’s result. With Democrats not challenging the results of this election, the session should proceed mainly as a counting exercise.
Congress voted twice on the results of the election in 2021, rejecting Republican challenges to President Joe Biden’s victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
The House convenes for a joint session to certify the election
Attendance on both sides of the aisle appears low after Washington received heavy snowfall overnight into Monday.
There was mild applause for Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrived on to the House floor to a flurry of empty seats.
Sen. Schumer criticizes the possibility of pardons for Jan. 6 rioters
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says it’s “shamefully, utterly outrageous” that President-elect Donald Trump is considering pardons for those who participated in the breach of the Capitol four years ago.
“It would send a message to the country and to the world that those who use force to get their way will not be punished,” said Schumer, as lawmakers gathered Monday to certify Trump’s victory in November’s presidential election.
Schumer paid tribute to law enforcement officers working at the Capitol four years ago and said pardoning the rioters would be reckless and an insult to the memory of those whose lives were lost in connection with that day.
A rare GOP statement remembering the Jan. 6 attack
As most of his colleagues deflected or wrote off the anniversary of the Jan 6 insurrection, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate Pennsylvania Republican, honored the “remarkable courage and sacrifice” of the Capitol police “who defended the Capitol that day.”
“Their courage in the face of danger upheld the ideals of our nation and reminded us of the profound cost of defending freedom,” he wrote on the social media site X.
A Republican congressman downplays the violence that happened four years ago
Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., described the riot that took place at the U.S. Capitol four years ago as “a self-guided, albeit unauthorized, tour of the U.S. Capitol building” and praised President Donald Trump’s vow to pardon rioters who stormed the Capitol that day on social media.
“Since then, hundreds of peaceful protestors have been hunted down, arrested, held in solitary confinement, and treated unjustly,” Collins wrote on X. “Thankfully, President Trump has announced that, on day one of his presidency, he will grant pardons to nonviolent defendants.”
More than 1,250 people have pleaded guilty or were convicted of crimes for the Capitol siege.
Collins’ statement downplayed the violence and disruption to the certification of the 2020 election four years ago. He described the armed mob as comprised of “thousands of peaceful grandmothers” in his post.
Collins was elected to Congress in the 2022 midterms and campaigned on false claims that President Joe Biden had stolen the 2020 election. He’s known for often posting controversial, ironic and hard right statements online.