Congress to certify Trump’s election on fourth anniversary of Capitol riot

Vice President Kamala Harris to preside over joint-session formally recognizing her own defeat as spectre of mob violence on January 6 2021 looms large

Donald Trump’s victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November’s presidential election will be formally certified by a joint-session of Congress on Monday, the occasion coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot of January 6 2021.

One of the darkest days in American history, the date will live in infamy for the violent scenes that erupted between Trump supporters and local law enforcement on the steps of the Capitol, clashes that resulted in the deaths of five people and left many more injured as the legislative complex was invaded and vandalized for the first time since British colonial soldiers set fire to the building in 1814.

The rioters from the so-called “Stop the Steal” movement, many of whom were armed, had been fired up by the 45th and soon to be 47th president’s false claims that he had been cheated out of a second term by a nationwide conspiracy to rig the 2020 vote in Joe Biden’s favor, which he continues to insist took place despite failing to produce any evidence to substantiate his version of events.

After listening to a Trump address at the Ellipse in which he ordered his supporters to “fight like hell”, they duly marched on the Capitol and brawled with outnumbered police officers, smashing windows and eventually forcing their way inside in an attempt to bring a halt to the same ceremony that will take place on Monday.

The would-be insurrectionists were particularly enraged by then-vice president Mike Pence’s refusal to weaponize his role as master of ceremonies and subvert the formal recognition of the results from the states, as Trump had publicly called upon him to do.

Feeling betrayed, the participants chanted “Hang Mike Pence!” and erected a makeshift gallows on Capitol Hill for precisely that purpose as lawmakers were sent running for their lives in shocking scenes that saw characters like the buffalo-bonetted “QAnon shamen” Jacob Chansely crash the cradle of democracy and ransack lawmakers’ offices.

While Trump was slow to call off his dogs – preferring to watch the drama unfold live on TV instead, ignoring pleas to intervene from his own panicked aides and allies – order was finally restored and the representatives and senators were able to return safely to their places and complete their duties.

Since then, almost 1,600 people, including members of the far-right militia groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, have been prosecuted for their role in the uprising, according to the FBI.

‘Stop the Steal’ protesters gather outside the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6 2021 (AP)

However, Trump, who was impeached for an unprecedented second time before mounting the extraordinary political comeback that led him back to the White House, has said he plans to pardon the participants as soon as he returns to office on January 20.

Today’s ceremony, by contrast, is expected to be “largely uneventful”, reports The Washington Post, barring the onset of a major snowstorm that is forecast to hit Washington DC.

That said, security fences have been erected around the Capitol’s perimeter and law enforcement is on “full alert”, with some officers billeted in local hotels overnight to ensure they can report for duty on Monday morning unimpeded by the possible blizzard.

In addition, 500 members of the DC National Guard reportedly stand ready to intervene if needed.

As required by federal law, the process of certification begins with the transportation of the states’ electoral vote records in mahogany boxes to the House of Representatives, where they will be unsealed at 1pm ET (6pm GMT) and read aloud in alphabetical order, from Alabama to Wyoming.

Given that the duty of presiding over the process falls to the vice president, whose role was more tightly defined by the passage of the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022, Harris will be in the unfortunate position of having to formalize her own defeat.

But unlike Trump and the Republicans in 2020, she and her fellow Democrats have not contested November’s result, preferring instead to accept the outcome with good grace.

Rioters storm the West Front of the US Capitol on January 6 2021 (AP)

The Electoral Count Act also serves to make it tougher for members of the House and Senate to raise spurious objections to the states’ results, requiring at least one-fifth of those taking part to take exception before a protest can be investigated.

It also makes it more difficult for Congress to change the date of the ceremony, with newly-re-elected House speaker Mike Johnson confirming on Sunday that there are no plans to suspend the vote in light of the imminent snowfall.

Once the results are certified, the president-elect’s inauguration ceremony can go ahead on the western steps of the Capitol in precisely two weeks’ time as scheduled.

Reflecting on the events of four years ago in an editorial for the Post on Monday, Biden told America its way of life had been sorely tested that day but prevailed.

“We should be proud that our democracy withstood this assault. And we should be glad we will not see such a shameful attack again this year,” he wrote.

“But we should not forget. We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it.”