The House and Senate will meet on Monday in a Joint Session of Congress to confirm the results of the 2024 presidential election.
The Riot in the Capitol and criticism over the certification of the 2020 presidential election have turned the quadruple, often sleepy issue of Electoral College certification into a full-blown national security event. Congressional security personnel began building a 10-foot fence around the exterior of the Capitol building a few days ago. Some of the fences extend beyond the general “Capitol Square” which includes the Capitol building itself. One such fence surrounded the outer boundaries of Russell Senate Park.
One of the ironies of the American political system is that the loser of a presidential race often leads to his defeat. In this case, Vice President Harris. Harris remains the Vice President until January 20. That also means that he continues as the President of the Senate.
Others have done the hard work of ensuring that they are defeated. Future President Richard Nixon was Vice President when he lost to President John F. Kennedy in 1960. Nixon then confirmed JFK as the winner in January 1961. Former Vice President Al Gore cast his vote for President George W. Bush after the 2000 election that was contested by controversy over which candidate won Florida. At that time Gore was in the Capitol to confirm Bush's victory in January 2001.
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The sun will rise over the US Capitol on Thursday, January 2, 2025, when the 119th Congress will begin on Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Here's what the 12th Amendment to the Constitution says about Congress signing election results: “The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all certificates and the votes shall be counted.”
This orders a Joint Session of Congress. This is where the House and Senate meet, at the same time, usually in the House chamber. The Speaker of the House presides over the President of the Senate: in this case, Vice President Harris.
But Harris runs the show.
The House and Senate meet only in a Joint Session of Congress to accept the President of the State of the Union and confirm the results of the election. And leaving the House you have successfully elected a Speaker on Friday afternoon, the House and Senate may call a Joint Session. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will lead the meeting from the podium in the House chamber.
Things are different compared to this exercise four years ago.
The traditional, somewhat traditional, Electoral College system changed on January 6, 2021, after a Capitol fiasco.
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Capitol Police began blocking traffic on the streets surrounding the Capitol building early Monday morning. Access to the House and Senate Office Buildings is limited to members, staff and visitors on official business. There will be limited access for pedestrians to the Capitol grounds. Official tours of the Capitol have been suspended.
Speaker Mike Johnson delivers a press conference and speech with a gavel (Getty Images)
Johnson will call the House to order around 1pm EST on Monday. House Sergeant at Arms Bill McFarland will announce the arrival of Harris and the senators as they enter the House chamber. Members of the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee will serve as “preachers” to help split electoral votes.
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Harris will announce that the House and Senate meet in Joint Session and declare “that the certificates (of election) are valid and proper in form.”
Starting in Alabama, one of the sellers is likely to read the following:
“Certificate of Electoral Votes of the State of Alabama appears to be always present in form and true. Therefore it appears that Donald John Trump of the State of Florida received nine votes for President and JD Vance of the State of Ohio he got nine votes for Vice President.”
And we continue.
In late 2022, lawmakers made several changes to the Electoral Count Act of 1887. First Congress passed the Elections Act in response to the contested election of 1876. Many states sent slate of candidates in Washington. Lawmakers decided there was no way to publish the results of the Electoral College.
Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote. But President Rutherford B. Hayes won White House – after a special commission put together by Congress gave him 20 controversial votes.
In the United States Presidential Contest, Samuel Tilden, Democratic Candidate and Rutherford Hayes, Republican Candidate, 1876. (Reports by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The 2022 Voter Count Amendment and Presidential Reform Act clarified the role of the Vice President in the Joint Session of Congress. President-elect Trump and other loyalists relied on Vice President Pence to be independent in the process. Many wanted him to accept other lists of candidates from the countries in question. The revised law states that the duties of the Vice President are merely “official”. The new law states that the Vice President does not have the authority to “decide, approve, reject, or adjudicate or resolve disputes regarding the correct list of candidates, the validity of candidates, or the election of candidates.”
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The new law also established an expedited judicial appeal process for cases related to electoral votes. Finally, the law changed the way in which legislators themselves could compete for state candidates during the General Assembly.
The old system required one member of the House and one senator to sign a petition challenging an individual state's electoral roll. In 2021, Republicans planned to challenge as many as six swing states. Finally they asked two.
In 2001, several members of the Congressional Black Caucus tried to challenge the Florida ballot. But they had no co-sponsor in the Senate.
FILE: House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol after the final election week on Thursday, September 12, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
After Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., asked him to question the Florida election, Al Gore – again, who oversaw his loss – asked if the California Democrat has a Senate team.
Water replied that he had none and “didn't care.”
Gore then responded with a government-like announcement that soothed the political wounds of the brutal election he had just lost to President W. Bush.
“The chair will advise that the regulations do attention,” Gore said.
His landing in the Waters caused a lot of applause in the House chamber.
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A question arose about Ohio's ballot when Congress began certifying the 2004 election in January 2005. But this time, Rep. The late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., joined forces to force the House and Senate to debate and vote separately on Ohio's ballot. But the House and Senate both rejected their appeal.
The 2022 Act made it more difficult to challenge state election certificates. Now it takes a fifth of all the members of the House and half of all the members of the Senate to challenge what the states send.
US Representatives of the 119th Congress are sworn in on the first day of session at the US Capitol Building on January 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) retained his Speakership in the face of opposition within his own party as the 119th Congress held its first session to vote for a new Speaker of the House. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The outcome of the 2024 election is not in dispute. There is no prospect of anyone forcing more Congressional views on the Electoral College. Despite some precautions, Capitol security officials do not expect rallies and violence, unlike in 2021.
In 2021 — after chaos and two fistfights near the House — Pence confirmed the election results just before 4 a.m. EST on January 7. This year's exercise should be completed in about an hour or so. more than. Vice President Harris will announce that Donald Trump has won the election “for the term beginning January 20, 2025.” You will then dissolve the Joint Session.
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And two weeks later at noon, United States Chief Justice John Roberts is sworn in Donald John Trump on the West side of the Capitol for his second term.