Headline: “Congress Prepares to Confirm Trump’s Win in 2024: Here’s What to Expect”
The U.S. Congress, comprising both the Senate and House of Representatives, is set to meet on Monday to formally acknowledge the triumph of President-elect Donald Trump in the 2024 elections. This comes four years after a tumultuous incident where Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol in a bid to stop Congress from validating President Biden’s victory. Currently, there are no indications of any attempts by the Democratic party to obstruct the ratification of Trump’s success.
Let’s delve into what we can anticipate from this event.
Understanding the Process of Congressional Presidential Election Verification
Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives will come together in a joint session. Presided over by Vice President Kamala Harris, they will count the electoral votes from all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia.
The Vice President will vocally announce each state’s electoral votes, which are then calculated by Congress to confirm Trump’s victory.
This procedure is traditionally a formality before the presidential inauguration on January 20.
The Timing of Congressional Vote Counting Post-Presidential Elections
By law, Congress is obligated to tally the electoral votes on January 6 following each presidential election. But this date can be legally altered if January 6 falls on a weekend. For instance, Congress confirmed President Barack Obama’s election win on January 4, 2013, instead of January 6, which was a Sunday.
The Reformed Electoral Count Act and The Significance of January 6
In response to the 2021 Capitol riot, Congress sought to amend the Electoral Count Act, a law from 1887 that guides the electoral vote count, to avert any future attempts to reverse presidential election outcomes.
The Electoral Count Reform Act was passed in 2022, emphasizing the Vice President’s ceremonial role in overseeing the joint Congressional session. It also raised the number of Congressional members needed to contest a state’s electors to 20% of each chamber. Before this, a single member from the House and Senate was sufficient to raise an objection.
In the aftermath of Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, Trump and his supporters spread unfounded fraud accusations and claimed that Vice President Mike Pence had the power to accept or refuse electoral votes. Pence refuted these claims.
During the 2021 vote count, Rep. Paul Gosar from Arizona and Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas objected to Biden’s Arizona votes. The session was abruptly paused, and both chambers debated separately. The process was violently disrupted by protesters storming the Capitol after Trump encouraged them to march there.
After the building was cleared, both chambers voted against discarding Arizona’s electoral votes for Biden and resumed the session. They later had to divide again to debate another objection to Pennsylvania’s results, led by Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Both attempts to discard the state’s votes for Biden were rejected by the chambers.
What Occurs if a Congressional Member Objects to the Electoral Votes?
Under the reformed rules, a member’s objection is now just a formal complaint. Previously, one member from each chamber could object to the count, leading to a debate and vote on whether to accept or reject a state’s results. But with the Electoral Reform Act of 2022, the threshold was raised to one-fifth of members in each chamber.
About the Author:
Caitlin Yilek is a political correspondent for CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She has previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
