Washington — The House and Senate will convene Monday to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s victory within the 2024 election.
It comes 4 years after a violent mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol to stop Congress from affirming President Biden’s win. There seem like no plans by Democrats to face in the way in which of certifying Trump’s win.
Here’s what to anticipate this time.
How does Congress rely the presidential election outcomes?
Senators and members of the House will meet in a joint session, with Vice President Kamala Harris presiding, to tally the electoral votes from the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The vp will learn aloud the electoral votes, after which Congress counts every state’s outcomes to affirm Trump’s victory.
The course of is often a ceremonial step earlier than a president is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Does Congress at all times rely outcomes on Jan. 6 following presidential elections?
Congress is required by legislation to rely the electoral votes on Jan. 6 after every presidential election. However, the date has been temporarily changed by law when Jan. 6 fell on a weekend. In 2013, Congress affirmed that President Barack Obama gained the election on Jan. 4, relatively than on Jan. 6, which was a Sunday.
What is the Electoral Count Reform Act, and what’s totally different about Jan. 6 this time?
After the Capitol riot in 2021, Congress moved to reform the Electoral Count Act — a 1887 legislation that ruled the counting of electoral votes — to stop one other effort to overturn the outcomes of a presidential election.
Congress handed the Electoral Count Reform Act in 2022, which clarified that the vp’s function in presiding over the joint session of Congress is ceremonial. It additionally made it harder for members of Congress to problem a state’s electors by elevating the edge to twenty% of members of every chamber. Previously, only one member of the House and one senator have been wanted to lift an objection.
Following Trump’s defeat within the 2020 election, he and his allies fueled unfounded allegations of fraud and argued that Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to simply accept or reject electoral votes. Pence denied he had such authority.
As Congress was tallying the votes in 2021, Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, joined Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, to object to Mr. Biden’s votes from Arizona.
The joint session was then suspended and the House and Senate individually debated the objection. The course of was abruptly interrupted as a violent mob of protesters made their manner into the constructing after Trump urged them to march to the Capitol.
Hours later, after rioters have been cleared from the constructing, each chambers voted to reject the objection that may have thrown out Arizona’s electoral votes for Mr. Biden. The House and Senate then reconvened in a joint session to proceed the rely. They later have been pressured to separate and debate one other objection to Pennsylvania’s outcomes, which was introduced by Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Both chambers additionally rejected the try to throw out the state’s votes for Mr. Biden.
What occurs if a member of Congress objects to the electoral votes?
This time, it will likely be nothing greater than a grievance. In the final presidential election, a member from every chamber wanted to object to the rely to drive lawmakers to debate and vote on whether or not to simply accept or reject a state’s outcomes. The Electoral Reform Act, handed by Congress in 2022, raised the edge to one-fifth of members in every chamber.
