Congress Certifies Trump’s Win | HuffPost Latest News | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON — Four years in the past, a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and assaulted greater than 100 cops in an try to forestall the 2020 election certification, a bloody assault on Congress that shook the inspiration of American democracy.

On Monday, the one hazard lawmakers needed to deal with as they labored to certify Donald Trump’s 2024 election win was a snowy commute and the icy steps of the Capitol constructing.

“A little chilly,” Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), bundled up in coat and scarf, remarked upon getting into the constructing Monday.

“I’m not walking into a building that is about to be bludgeoned by rioters,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) informed HuffPost. “I hope nobody takes for granted how normal this feels. Had Kamala Harris won, I know a lot of our lives would likely be in jeopardy once again today.”

Unlike 4 years in the past, when Trump falsely claimed the election had been rigged in opposition to him and referred to as on his supporters to march on the Capitol, Harris didn’t cry foul and Democrats raised no objections to the Electoral College consequence. Instead, the vice chairman presided over what had lengthy been a formality, at the very least earlier than Trump.

The certification began Monday with a procession to the House chamber that included senators, picket poll containers and the vice chairman. A staff of six staffers inspected the state certificates, then “tellers” learn the state ends in alphabetical order.

The total course of took a bit of greater than half an hour.

Like different vice presidents who had been unsuccessful at successful the White House, Harris formalized her personal loss within the November election. She did in order constitutionally required, despite the fact that she as soon as referred to as Trump a fascist who’s uniquely unqualified for the presidency.

“This duty is a sacred obligation — one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution and my unwavering faith in the American people,” Harris stated in a video posted on-line Monday.

During the proceedings, Harris learn from a proper script, providing no commentary. Lawmakers had been cordial on either side, with some cheering as their state outcomes had been introduced.

At the tip, Harris stated Trump had gained 312 electoral school votes to her personal 226.

“This announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate,” Harris stated, referring to herself, “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States.”

Though there have been no disruptions, and no vital threats, the federal government erected a way more formidable safety equipment across the Capitol, together with a fringe of tall black fences.

It is now additionally a lot tougher for members of Congress to drive a vote to overturn state election outcomes. Congress handed a legislation within the wake of the Jan. 6 riot elevating the edge for an objection from only one member from the House and Senate to one-fifth of each chambers.

Four years in the past, then-President Trump held a rally close to the White House, urged his supporters to “fight like hell” and inspired them to go to the Capitol, the place they pushed apart waist-high barricades, overwhelmed police and stormed the constructing. Inside, Republicans had objected to the ballots, prompting the House and Senate to interrupt into separate periods to contemplate and finally reject the objections, which had been primarily based on unfounded fraud considerations.

More than 1,500 folks have been charged with crimes for his or her actions that day, together with lots of for violently attacking police, and Trump himself for gathering the mob as a part of his broader scheme to undo the 2020 election.

Trump has vowed that he would pardon the rioters as quickly as he takes the oath of workplace later this month. That may embrace greater than 1,000 folks charged in relation to the Jan. 6 riot, based on Bloomberg.

On the eve of the anniversary, President Joe Biden criticized efforts to “erase” the historical past of the Jan. 6 riot and decried what he calls an “unrelenting effort” to downplay the mob violence.

“We should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year,” Biden wrote in an opinion piece printed Sunday in The Washington Post. “To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed.”

Some Republicans sought to trivialize the riot by Trump supporters. In a social media put upRep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) described the storming of the Capitol as “thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, D.C., to take a self-guided, albeit unauthorized, tour of the U.S. Capitol building.”

Many Democrats bitterly famous the distinction between Monday’s proceedings and the way in which they went 4 years in the past.

“I’m feeling angry about the fact that this is going to be strawberry ice cream and puppies because Trump won, and if Trump had lost we’d be in body armor and protected by the 82nd Airborne,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) informed HuffPost. “That tells you something about the difference between the two parties.”