WASHINGTON — Congress will convene Monday amid a citywide snow emergency declaration to certify President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 victory, exactly four years after he incited a mob that attacked the Capitol in a failed attempt to block the confirmation of disrupt his 2020 election loss and keep him in power.
Four years ago, 147 Republicans voted to overturn the results and disregard electors for President Joe Biden, even though Trump had not provided any evidence that the results were illegitimate.
This time, Democrats don’t plan to respond in kind. They plan to return January 6 to its historical roots as a boring and routine affair where the president-elect is certified 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 said in a speech Friday as Republicans clapped. “Thank you for this very generous applause. It’s okay. There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle.”
“You have to love America when you win and when you lose,” Jeffries continued. “That’s a patriotic thing to do, and that’s the America that Democrats in the House of Representatives will fight hard to preserve, because we love this country. America is bigger than any campaign, election or individual.”
Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, has conceded defeat. And she is expected to preside over Trump’s certification on Monday, after visiting Capitol Hill on Friday to swear in senators.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a snow emergency on Sunday that is expected to last until early Tuesday, raising travel concerns for members of Congress who left the city this weekend.
“There’s a major snowstorm coming to D.C. and we’re encouraging all of our colleagues: don’t leave town, stay here,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Fox News on Sunday. “Because, as you know, the Electoral Count Act requires this by January 6 at 1 p.m. So whether we’re in a snowstorm or not, we’re going to be in that room to make sure this happens.”
Even if there are some absences, the certification process does not require full attendance. And many House Republicans stayed in Washington for a retreat this weekend.
In late 2022, the Democratic-controlled Congress passed a law overhauling the certification process in an effort to prevent another January 6, 2021-type event and make it harder for future presidential candidates to steal elections.
Among the changes: The role of the vice president is being clarified to remove any doubt that he or she cannot refuse to count the Electoral College votes already certified by the states. And the threshold for voting on an objection to the counting of certain electoral votes has risen from just one House member and senator to one-fifth of each chamber. It also includes safeguards against injecting “fake voters” into the process.
Unlike in 2021, when Trump invited his supporters to Washington for the certification on January 6 and then urged them to “fight like hell” during a speech that morning, widespread protests are not expected in Washington this time.
Capitol Police and the Secret Service have installed temporary fencing around the Capitol for security and January 6 has been declared a “national special security event.” Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said the fencing will remain up during Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
