Congress is meeting in a joint session to certify the results of the 2024 election, the final stage before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, following significant revisions to the ceremony’s security and the statute that governs how it is carried out.
Prior to 2021, the Congress’ legally prescribed tasks to count state electoral certifications and certify the results on January 6 were sometimes fulfilled in less than an hour, with little public notification.
However, the circumstances of four years ago made this a more keenly watched case.
Washington, D.C., is under tight security not only for the vote certification ceremony, but also for former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral at the end of this week and Trump’s inauguration in two weeks.
According to authorities, there are no known threats to the certification of electoral votes, but police are prepared for the eventuality.
And the Washington area is anticipated to see its biggest snowfall in several years on Monday, which may disrupt government activities but is unlikely to prevent certification.
Here is what we expect to happen on Monday.
Security
The request by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to designate Washington as a National Security Special Event for vote counting and certification was accepted in September. This enables major resources from the federal government, as well as state and local partners, to be used in a complete security strategy, with the US Secret Service serving as the lead agency.
To bolster staffing, the Secret Service is dispatching agents and specialists from various field offices across the country. D.C. Police will be fully engaged beginning Sunday morning, with almost 4,000 additional officers from across the country arriving to assist with policing for the special festivities. Drones will be used for both event preparation and training purposes.
According to U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, “The United States Capitol Police [are] better staffed, better trained, and better equipped than ever before, to protect our Capitol and our Congress.”
“The legislative process will proceed without disruption, and our government will have a peaceful transfer of power,” he promised.
Capitol Police has implemented more than 100 recommendations issued by its inspector general following the Jan. 6 attack, including expanding staffing, training, and establishing a new intelligence operation.
The D.C. National Guard informed AWN that it has been activated and will assist with activities this month. The Guard has approximately 500 members on standby for Carter’s funeral on January 6. The request for 7,800 military personnel for Trump’s inauguration is pending approval.
Fencing is built around a perimeter that extends beyond the office buildings on both sides of the Capitol, as well as an inner boundary that surrounds the Capitol complex itself. The fencing was constructed for the first time following the 2021 insurgency and will be identical to that used for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress last summer.
Sources tell AWN that the barrier on Capitol Hill and near the White House will remain in place until February.
No big groups have asked for permission or declared any protests over election certification.
Snow day.
D.C. is anticipated to receive 8 to 12 inches of snow through Monday, but members are expected to travel to the Capitol.
House Republican leaders persuaded members to stay in Washington over the weekend, and Speaker Mike Johnson is moving forward with Monday’s certification.
In an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, Johnson stated that he hopes for full attendance.
“Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done,” Johnson told the crowd.
The position of the vice president
Vice President Kamala Harris will preside over the certification, placing her in the terrible position of having to validate her opponent’s triumph in 2024. In 2022, Congress passed legislation to limit the vice president’s function to ceremonial duties.
Harris announced in a video statement on Monday that she will fulfill the “sacred obligation” of certifying the results of the 2024 election, which she lost.
“The peaceful transfer of power is one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy, as much as any other principle, it is what distinguishes our system of government from monarchy or tyranny,” Harris told the crowd.
“Today, at the United States Capitol, I will carry out my constitutional duty as Vice President of the United States and certify the results of the 2024 election. This is a solemn role, and I will carry it out with love of country, dedication to our Constitution, and unflinching faith in the American people,” she said.
The Electoral Count Reform Act amended some of the laws Donald Trump intended to utilize to contest the electoral vote on January 6, 2021.
The legislation also makes it more difficult for Congress to contest a state’s electoral votes. The statute raised the threshold for objecting to a state’s electoral votes from one senator and one representative to one-fifth of each legislature, with objections sustained by one-half of each chamber.
Though there were complaints from state electors that resulted in the joint session’s dissolution in 2021, none of them were sustained by a half-chamber vote in the Senate or the House.
The law also clarified the date by which states must select their electors and established an expedited procedure for federal courts, or the Supreme Court if necessary, to hear cases involving state executives’ duty to issue and transmit to Congress certification of appointed electors.
Certifying the vote
Ballot procession: The sealed votes arrived at the Capitol and were addressed to the vice president as Senate president. The votes are placed in ceremonial leather-bound boxes and transported from the Senate to the House by a team of Senate pages.
Senators follow the electoral boxes to the House to convene the combined session.
Members convene for joint session: According to federal law, members must meet at 1 p.m. to announce the results of the presidential election. The House sergeant at arms announces the president of the Senate (Harris) and senators, as in the State of the Union address, and then the president of the Senate takes the dais and becomes the ceremony’s presiding officer. The Speaker of the House normally sits behind the Vice President.
“Tellers” appear on the dais: Two House members and two Senate members chosen by the speaker and Senate majority leader help guide the event by reading out the votes alphabetically by state. This is normally the highest-ranking Republican and Democrat on the Senate Rules and House Administration committees.
Harris reads the votes from each state in alphabetical order. Beginning with Alabama, Harris will open the certificates and present them to one of the tellers. After the teller announces the outcome, Harris will inquire if there are any objections. If there are objections, like there were in 2021, this is when they will be heard.
If the threshold for an objection is met, Harris will announce that the two chambers will consider separately on the pending objection and report back to the joint session. The Senate would withdraw from the combined session and return to its chambers. Both chambers would have up to two hours to consider whether to uphold the objection. To sustain an objection, at least half of each chamber must vote.
Neither chamber has ever supported an objection.
Completing the process: The vice president will declare the total number of electoral votes (538), the definition of a simple majority (217), and how many electoral votes each contender received, followed by the vice president.The vice president will proclaim the combined session dissolved. Usually there is applause after the certification is completed.
How long does all of this take? There have been cases where certification took less than half an hour. In 2017, then-Vice President Joe Biden presided over the certification of President Trump’s first term, which lasted 41 minutes.
Congress convened in a joint session at 1 p.m. in 2021, but did not finish its work certifying the election until 3:39 a.m. on Jan. 7, due to a prolonged recess caused by the Capitol breach and various state objections.
