Inside Congress' "surreal" day certifying Trump's victory
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Members of Congress in the House chamber for the 2024 election certification on Jan. 6, 2025. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.
For members of Congress who trudged through a snowstorm to certify President-elect Trump's victory in the Electoral College, Jan. 6, 2025 was almost bizarre in its uneventfulness.
Why it matters: Just four years ago today, former Vice President Pence had to be rushed to a secure location when the Jan. 6 Capitol riot interrupted the Electoral College certification for President-elect Biden.
That was in stark contrast with Monday's joint session, in which tellers ran swiftly through each elector slate.
- Vice President Harris — who presided over the meeting — "certified her own defeat, and the victory of her opponent who said nasty things about her," Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) told Axios.
- Harris having to certify Trump's victory after he "nearly stole our democracy four years ago was "the part that is most painful to me," said Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.).
- Lawmakers applauded when electors were announced for their respective candidates, but when Harris announced Trump's victory, both sides gave a standing ovation.
Driving the news: Unlike in 2021, when Congress reconvened following the riot and certified President Biden's victory after midnight, the joint session on Monday concluded after just a half hour.
- No lawmakers stood up to try to object to any of the elector slates, though the new Electoral Count Reform Act passed in 2022 would have made that difficult to do anyway.
- Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) told reporters he felt the applause for a traditionally perfunctory, non-partisan process was misplaced: "I didn't really understand that on either side of the aisle … We were not on the floor of our party conventions."
Between the lines: Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), one of two sitting House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot, told Axios: "See how easy it can be? How much difference four years can be?"
- Newhouse said he has been "watching all the reruns [of Jan. 6] the last few days on TV," saying of Monday's proceedings, "Surreal — I guess that's probably a good term for it."
What they're saying: "We're not fans of Donald Trump, but he won the most votes," Gomez told Axios, saying it was "a little strange on the [House] floor" during the proceedings.
- Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), who was one of the tellers, said "it was a little bit to process ... the trauma of four years ago and feel it in a personal way."
- "For the country, it may feel a little surreal that we're back here," Morelle added.
The bottom line: For some Democrats, there was more than a twinge of bitterness about just how smoothly the process went.
- Torres noted the contrast between how fortified the Capitol was on Monday versus four years ago: "I only wish that we would have had the number of security of personnel."
