House and Senate lawmakers are now meeting in joint session to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.
The vote count is occurring exactly four years after thousands of pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, temporarily disrupting lawmakers affirming President Joe Biden’s 2020 win.
Monday’s events are expected to mark a return to the traditional ceremonial task that had long been a subdued affair until Trump’s challenge of his loss to Biden, though heightened security measures remain in place.
A winter snowstorm blanketed Washington but lawmakers are forging ahead with the constitutionally mandated responsibility.
Law enforcement officers patrol outside the U.S. Capitol as snow falls during a winter storm Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
This year, President Biden emphasized the importance of America’s bedrock principle of a peaceful transfer of power but urged the country to never forget what happened in 2021.
“We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault,” Biden wrote in an op-ed published late Sunday by the Washington Post. “And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year.”
Vice President Kamala Harris will be presiding over the certification of an election she lost to Trump.
“This duty is a sacred obligation, one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution and my unwavering faith in the American people,” Harris said in a video message posted earlier Monday.
Vice President Kamala Harris shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as they arrive for a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 Presidential election at the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Speaker Mike Johnson, who was just elected to a second term to lead the House with Trump’s assistance, and Vice President Harris called the chamber to order shortly after 1 p.m. ET after the procession of ballots and senators through the Capitol.
Harris will open the votes from each state and hand them to the House tellers, who will read aloud the result.
Unlike in 2021, there are not expected to be any objections to the results. Harris conceded to Trump the day after Election Day, and no Democrats have challenged the outcome as many Republican allies of Trump did in 2020.
Senate pages carry Electoral College ballot boxes to the House Chamber for of a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 Presidential election at the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington.
Jemal Countess/AFP via Getty Images
A staff member holds the Arizona certification as a joint session of Congress convenes to confirm the Electoral College votes, Jan. 6, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Matt Rourke/AP
Trump, ahead of the certification, posted on his social media platform that it will be “A BIG MOMENT IN HISTORY. MAGA!”
The president-elect will be sworn in on Monday, Jan. 20.
Trump won 312 Electoral College votes compared to Harris’ 226. He’s claimed his win is a “mandate” from the American people to implement his agenda for the economy, immigration and more.
He is returning to the White House with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate. The 119th Congress was sworn in last Friday.
ABC News
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