The House and Senate are scheduled to meet in a joint session on Monday to certify the results of the 2024 presidential vote.
The riot and insurrection at the Capitol over the certification of the 2020 presidential election turned the quadrennial, often sleepy event of certifying the Electoral College into a full-fledged national security event. Capitol security officials have begun installing a 10-foot-tall fence around the perimeter of the Capitol in recent days. Parts of the fence extend beyond the usual “Reichstag Square”, which includes the Reichstag itself. One such fence encircled the entire outer perimeter of Russell Senate Park.
One of the great ironies of the American political system is that those who lose presidential campaigns often preside over their own defeat. In this case, it’s Vice President Harris. Harris will serve as vice president until January 20. This also means she will continue as Senate President.
Others carried out this onerous task of proving their defeat. Future President Richard Nixon was vice president when he lost to President John F. Kennedy in 1960. Nixon then recognized JFK as the winner in January 1961. Former Vice President Al Gore ceded the election to President George W. Bush after the disputed 2000 election, and the uproar over which candidate actually won Florida. Mr. Gore was then at the Capitol in January 2001 to seal Mr. Bush’s victory.
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Sunrise light shines on the U.S. Capitol dome Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress begins Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution says the following about Congress certifying election results: “The President of the Senate shall open all certificates in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the votes shall then be counted.”
As a result, it was decided to hold a joint parliament. This is where the House and Senate meet at the same time, usually in the House chamber. The Speaker of the House presides alongside the President of the Senate, in this case Vice President Harris.
But Harris kind of leads the show.
The House and Senate meet only in joint session to receive the president’s State of the Union address and certify election results. And the House successfully elected a speaker on Friday afternoon, allowing both chambers to convene a joint session. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will serve as co-chair from the podium on the House floor.
Things are different compared to this exercise four years ago.
The relatively routine, almost ceremonial certification of the Electoral College was permanently changed on January 6, 2021, in the wake of the Capitol riot.
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Capitol Police began controlling vehicle traffic on roads surrounding the Capitol early Monday. Access to House and Senate office buildings is limited to members, staff and visitors who are there on official business. There will be only a few pedestrian access points to the Capitol grounds. Official Parliament House tours have been canceled.
Chairman Mike Johnson holding a gavel and giving a speech at a press conference (Getty Images)
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to call the House of Commons to issue his orders around 1pm ET on Monday. House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill McFarland is expected to announce her arrival as Harris and senators enter the House chamber. Members of the House Administration Committee and the Senate Rules Committee serve as “windows” to help count electoral votes.
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Harris will declare that the House and Senate will meet in joint session and announce that “the certificate[of the election]is authentic and formally correct.”
Starting in Alabama, one of the tellers might read the following sentences:
“Alabama’s electoral vote certificates appear to be formal and authentic. Therefore, Donald John Trump of Florida received 9 votes for presidential nomination, and J.D. Vance of Ohio received 9 votes for the presidential nomination. It appears that he received nine votes as the presidential candidate,” the vice president said. “
And we’re off.
In late 2022, lawmakers made several changes to the 1887 Electoral College Act. Congress originally passed the Electoral Count Act in response to the disputed election of 1876. Several states sent competing electoral rolls to Washington. Lawmakers determined there was no formal process to tally the Electoral College results.
Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote. However, President Rutherford B. Hayes won the White House after a special committee authorized by Congress awarded him the 20 contested electoral votes.
American presidential election, Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden and Republican candidate Rutherford Hayes, 1876. (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The Electoral College Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022 clarifies the role of the vice president in a joint session of the House and Senate. President-elect Trump and other supporters turned to then-Vice President Pence to advocate for themselves in the process. Many called on him to accept alternate electoral seats from the states in question. The updated law states that the vice president’s role is simply that of “minister.” The new statute provides that the vice president does not have the authority to “determine, accept, reject, or adjudicate or resolve disputes concerning the proper slate of electors, the validity of electors, or the electoral votes.” There is.
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The new law also established an expedited judicial appeals process for lawsuits involving electoral votes. Finally, the law changed how lawmakers themselves can object to a state’s electoral roll during a joint session.
The old system required one representative and one senator to sign a petition challenging an individual state’s electoral roll. In 2021, Republicans had planned to take on up to six battleground states. Eventually they asked the two men a question.
In 2001, several members of the Congressional Black Caucus attempted to challenge Florida’s electoral rolls. But there were no co-sponsors in the Senate.
File: Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024 House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol after the final vote of the week. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
After Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., implored him to question Florida’s electoral votes, Al Gore, again weighing in on his defeat, asked if he had any fellow California Democrats in the Senate. Ta.
Waters replied, “I don’t care about that.”
Gore then responded with a statesmanlike declaration that salvaged political wounds from the ugly election he had just lost to President W. Bush.
“The chairman will advise us to focus on the rules,” Gore said.
Waters’ firing drew bipartisan applause in the House of Representatives.
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When Congress began certifying the 2004 election in January 2005, questions arose about Ohio’s electoral rolls. But this time, the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio) and former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) have joined forces to ensure that the House and Senate separate decisions about Ohio’s electoral rolls. Force discussion and vote. However, both houses of Congress rejected their petition.
The 2022 law makes it more difficult to challenge states’ electoral certificates. Currently, one-fifth of the House of Representatives and one-half of the Senate are required to object to a state’s submission.
U.S. members of the 119th Congress are sworn in on the first day of session in the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol on January 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. As the 119th Congress held its first session to vote on a new Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) retained the Speakership despite opposition within his own party. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The outcome of the 2024 election is indisputable. There is no expectation that anyone will force additional scrutiny of the Electoral College by Congress. And despite the additional precautions, Capitol security officials are not anticipating any rallies or outbreaks of violence, unlike in 2021.
In 2021, after a riot and two near-fisticuffs on the House floor, Pence certified the electoral vote results just before 4 a.m. ET on Jan. 7. This year’s exercise is expected to last about an hour. Vice President Harris is expected to announce that Donald Trump has won the election “for the term beginning January 20, 2025.” She will then dissolve the joint session.
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Two weeks later, at noon, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts swore Donald John Trump into office for a second term on the West Front of the Capitol.
Chad Pergrum currently serves as the Senior Congressional Correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based in Washington, DC.
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