Congress is set to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory on Monday.
The new Congress will count electoral votes from the 2024 presidential election during its joint session on Jan. 6, a largely ceremonial process required by the U.S. Constitution.
Trump secured a second term in the White House after surpassing the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. The president-elect clinched 312 electoral votes, including the seven battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Vice President Kamala Harris won 226 electoral votes.
Kamala Harris’s Role
As president of the Senate, Kamala Harris is required to preside over the session and declare a winner, a position that may be uncomfortable since she must certify an election that she lost.But due to an updated law, the process is expected to go more smoothly compared to four years ago. In 2021, Trump called for Vice President Mike Pence to object to his defeat in the 2020 election. The Electoral Count Act, revised in 2022, means that the vice president cannot challenge or determine the election results.
The rule makes it explicitly clear that the vice president only plays a ceremonial role in the counting of electoral votes.
The Process
In mid-December, Electoral College members gathered in each of their respective state capitals to cast their state's electoral votes for president and vice president. Those ballots were sent to Harris, as president of the Senate, as well as the official archivists.First, the ballots will be delivered to the chamber in special mahogany boxes. Harris, the presiding officer, will open the sealed envelopes and present the certificates of the electoral votes in alphabetical order of the states.
There will be appointed tellers from the House and Senate, both Republicans and Democrats, who will read each certificate out loud and record and count the votes.
Lawmakers are allowed to stand up and object to the states' votes, although that is unlikely to happen this time around. Harris will hear any objection as long as it is in writing and signed by one-fifth of each chamber, according to the revised rule that raised the threshold and made objections more difficult. Harris will not hear any objections that are not aligned with the updated guidelines.
Next Steps
Monday's congressional certification is the final formality leading to the presidential inauguration.As the 47th president, Trump will officially become the second president to serve two nonconsecutive terms, following Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will officially assume office on Jan. 20. They will both take the oath of office during an inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
Meanwhile, outgoing presidents and vice presidents traditionally attend their successor’s inauguration, meaning President Joe Biden and Harris will be present to mark the official transfer of power.