WASHINGTON — Congress formally certified President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory on Monday, exactly four years to the day he incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to disrupt the certification of his 2020 election loss.
Vice President Kamala Harris oversaw the certification of her defeat, which took just 37 minutes and without interruption amid a citywide snow emergency declaration.
Harris was standing next to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was part of helping engineer the failed objections to certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.
One by one each state was read out, confirming the number of electoral votes each candidate won in November’s election along with the electoral votes.
“Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes,” Harris said after the votes were counted. “Kamala D. Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes.”
Four years ago, 147 Republicans objected and voted to overturn the result and discount electors for Biden, despite no evidence of voter fraud. This time, Democrats opted to to return Jan. 6 to its historical roots as an affair without drama.
“Two months ago, the American people elected Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States of America,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Friday. “Thank you for that very generous applause. It’s OK. There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle.”
“One should love America when you win and when you lose,” Jeffries continued. “That’s the patriotic thing to do, and that’s the America that House Democrats will fight hard to preserve because we love this country. America is bigger than any one campaign, any one election or any one individual.”
A winter snowstorm slammed Washington but lawmakers stayed over the weekend to ensure they completed their constitutionally mandated responsibility.