WASHINGTON — Congress certified President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 elections deliberations A Monday that went off without a hitch, in stark contrast to January 6, 2021, violence as a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Lawmakers met under ponderous surveillance and during a winter snowstorm meet the deadline required by law for certification elections. Layers of elevated black fences surrounded the Capitol sophisticated, a stark reminder of what had happened four years agowhen a defeated Trump sent out rally participants “fight like hell” in what happened the most gruesome attack in the seat of American democracy 200 years from now.
This time the whole process ended quickly and without any worries. One by one, the tally of the electoral votes from each state was read aloud in the House to polite applause, no one objected and results have been certified.
“Today, America’s democracy survived,” Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, said after presiding over the session – as is the role of her office – and her own defeat by Trump.
But Trump’s legacy in 2021 leaves a remarkable fact: the candidate who tried to overturn the previous election won this time and is legally back in the White House, with his inauguration in two weeks.
While Monday’s result revived the American tradition of beginning the peaceful transition of presidential power, it is unclear whether January 6, 2021, was an anomaly or whether this year’s composed has become an exception to the norm.
Trump denies he lost four years ago, ponders remaining beyond constitutional two-term White House limit and promises forgiveness some of over 1,250 people who have pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes related to the Capitol siege. He calls January 6, 2021, “the day of love.”
On Monday, Trump announced online that Congress was certifying a “GREAT” election victory and called it a “GREAT MOMENT IN HISTORY.”
Still, American democracy proved resilient, and Congress, the body of government closest to the people, convened to confirm Americans’ election.
The day passed with pomp and tradition countless times before, with the arrival of ceremonial mahogany boxes filled with election certificates from the states – boxes that workers had frantically grabbed and protected the last time Trump’s mob stormed the building.
Senators marched through the Capitol — which four years ago was riddled with roaming rioters, some of whom defecated and shouted menacingly at leaders and others engaged in hand-to-hand combat with police — to the House to begin approving the vote.
House of Representatives chaplain Margaret Kibben, who led the prayer during the violence four years ago, made a uncomplicated request after opening the chamber to “shine a light in the darkness.”
Harris stood at the podium where the then Speaker was Nancy Pelosi the last time he was suddenly rushed to safety as the crowd closed in and lawmakers tried to put on gas masks and flee, then shots rang out as police murdered Ashley Babbitta Trump supporter trying to get through the broken glass door into the hall.
Harris, on the other hand, confirmed her defeat – as did Democrat Al Gore in 2001, Republican Richard Nixon in 1961 and then-Vice President Mike Pence he did four years ago.
When Harris read the tally, the chamber erupted in applause: first Republicans for Trump’s 312 electoral votes, then Democrats for Harris’ 226 electoral votes.
Vice President-elect JD Vance he joined his former Senate colleagues in the front row and was afterwards surrounded by congratulatory handshakes, hugs and photos.
Within half an hour the process was completed.
There they are novel procedural rules was introduced after what happened four years ago, when Republicans repeated Trump’s lie that the election was stolen and questioned the results certified by their own states.
As part of the changes in Electoral Accounts Actit now requires one-fifth of lawmakers, rather than just one in each chamber, to raise objections to election results.
But none of this was necessary.
Republicans who challenged 2020 election results Now (*6*)express greater confidence in US elections After Trump defeatedHarris.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., who led the 2021 House vote, said people at the time were very surprised by the election results and there were “a lot of claims and allegations.”
This time he said: “I think the victory was very decisive. … She repressed most of it.
And Democrats frustrated with Trump’s decision victory nevertheless, he accepted the choice of American voters, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated that there were no “infected” election deniers on his side.
“There are no election deniers on our side,” Jeffries said last week on the first day of the novel Congress, to applause from Democrats in the chamber.
Harris later said that this time, Jan. 6 was about “what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is one of the most important pillars of our democracy: the peaceful transition of power.”
Last time, far-right militias helped lead a mob to break into the Capitol in a scene reminiscent of a war zone. Officers described being pinned down, pepper sprayed and beaten with Trump flag poles, “slipping into other people’s blood.”
Leaders Oath Keepers AND Proud boys they were convicted subversive conspiracy and sentenced to many years in prison. Many others faced prison, probation, home confinement or other penalties.
Pence, who had to go into hiding that day as rioters threatened to hang him for refusing to reject Biden’s victory, wrote online that he welcomed what he called “a return of order and civility” to the certification process.
Trump was impeached by the House that day on a charge of incitement of insurrection, but the Senate acquitted him. At the time, Republican leader Mitch McConnell blamed Trump for the siege but said his guilt would be decided in court.
Federal prosecutors then issued a favour four-count indictment Trump for his efforts to overturn the election, but special prosecutor Jack Smith dropped the case last month after Trump won re-election, following Justice Department guidelines that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
Biden, in one of his departing acts, awarded the award to them Presidential Citizens Medal Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and former Republican Liz Cheney of Wyo., who served as chair and vice chair of the congressional committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 incident.
Trump said those who served on the committee on January 6 should do so closed.
