Congress certifies Trump's 2024 election victory, 4 years after Capitol attack

The 2024 election certification was calm and rapid, a stark contrast from the process on Jan. 6, 2021. CBS News' Major Garrett, Nikole Killion and David Becker break down the impact of the 2024 proceedings:

Harris made brief remarks after the certification and meeting with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the Capitol. Harris said a peaceful transfer of power "should be the norm." 

"Today was obviously a very important day, and it was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power," Harris said. 

"I do believe very strongly that America's democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for, every single person, their willingness to fight for and respect the importance of our democracy. Otherwise, it is very fragile, and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis," she continued. "And today, America's democracy stood." 

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who resisted pressure from Trump and his allies to reject electoral votes when presiding over the ceremony in 2021, wrote on X that the "peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our democracy."

"I welcome the return of order and civility to these historic proceedings and offer my most sincere congratulations and prayers to President Donald J. Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance on their election to lead this great Nation," Pence wrote. 

He said it was "particularly admirable that Vice President Harris would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost."

With that, Harris dissolved the joint session of Congress shortly after 1:30 p.m. The vice president stepped onto the House floor, shaking the hands of members of both chambers. 

Vance shook the hands of Republicans congratulating him, with some members stopping him for photos. 

Harris announced Trump's victory following the count, fulfilling her role as president of the Senate. She outlined that Trump had won 312 Electoral College votes, while she herself won 226 votes. Two-hundred and seventy votes were needed to win. 

"This announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States, each for a term beginning on the 20th day of January 2025 and shall be entered together with the list of the votes on the journals of the House and the Senate," Harris said. "Thank you very much."

The vice president, who lost the election to Trump, stood calmly throughout the count as a seemingly uncomfortable scene unfolded. Meanwhile, Republicans celebrated exuberantly over their victory as Vice-President elect JD Vance sat in attendance. 

Republicans broke out in cheers and applause when Harris announced Trump and Vance's total Electoral College votes. Democrats did the same for Harris' results.

Harris and Johnson shook hands after Harris completed her remarks. 

Democratic leaders have stressed their commitment to a peaceful transfer of power, working to paint a stark contrast to four years earlier when rioters stormed the Capitol, and some Republican lawmakers challenged the outcome of the 2020 election.

The four tellers are reading each state's certificate in alphabetical order, detailing the number of electoral votes for each candidate, to applause from alternating sides of the House floor as members applaud victories for Trump or Harris. 

After all the states have been read, Harris is tasked with calling for any objections. 

Objections must be made in writing and be signed by at least one-fifth of the House and Senate and list the grounds for objection. Objections would have to be sustained by both chambers. No Democrats have said they plan to object.

Harris called the joint session to order shortly after 1 p.m. 

"Mr. Speaker and members of Congress, pursuant to the constitution and laws of the United States, the Senate and House of Representatives are meeting in joint session to verify the certificates and count the votes of the electors of several states for president and vice president of the United States," she said. 

The "tellers," tasked with confirming each state's electoral certificates are "regular in form and authentic," are now reading the totals in alphabetical order.

The tellers are: 

• Rep. Bryan Steil, a Wisconsin Republican
• Rep. Joe Morelle, a New York Republican
• Sen. Deb Fischer, a Nebraska Republican 
• Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat

Vice President Kamala Harris, who presides over the counting of the votes, has entered the chamber, as senators file in for a joint session. Lawmakers are greeting each other with handshakes and hugs during the rare meeting of both the House and Senate. 

Harris took her place on the dais alongside Speaker Mike Johnson, and the two shook hands.

Vice President-elect JD Vance is on the House floor for the proceeding as well. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recalled the attack on the Capitol in remarks from the Senate floor Monday, calling it "one of the darkest, most shameful days in American history" and urging Americans not to forget what happened.

"We cannot let anyone whitewash what happened here four years ago," Schumer said. "Far too many individuals have tried to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, have tried to sweep the truth under the rug, and pretend like the day was perfectly fine or even a moment of great patriotism. That is a lie, plain and simple."

The New York Democrat recalled coming within "several yards of angry rioters," noting how staff and members of Congress hid beneath desks and barricaded the doors of their offices while rioters broke into the Senate and House chambers.

"This was in no way a peaceful protest," Schumer said. "This was a deliberate and in some cases premeditated attempt to subvert the democratic process through intimidation and violence. It was one of the most shameful, reprehensible episodes in the history of this great nation. And it happened because the loser of the 2020 election refused to accept defeat."

Schumer said four years on, the process "will return to normal, and remain solemn but peaceful," adding that "we're here today to continue the transfer of power, to acknowledge what the people have already decided, and nothing more."

"Unfortunately, today stands in stark contrast to what happened four years ago," Schumer said. "On that day, lawlessness and mob violence sought to bring democracy to its knees."

"Future generations must never forget the truth: Jan. 6, 2021, was a day that a violent mob tried to halt the results of a presidential election," he added. "It was a direct assault on American democracy."

Senate Majority Leader John Thune took to the Senate floor to congratulate Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance as senators prepared to head to the House floor. 

"Now the work begins of delivering on our agenda, and Mr. President, Republicans are ready to go," Thune said on the Senate floor. 

Thune, who replaced Sen. Mitch McConnell as the GOP leader, said the Senate will be focused on confirming Trump's Cabinet picks quickly so Trump can carry out his agenda. 

"The voters sent President Trump here with a mission, and we are committed to ensuring that he has the people around him he needs to deliver," Thune said.

Thune made no mention of Trump supporters' assault on the Capitol four years ago. 

For some of those hoping for a pardon, their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, were not their first crimes.

A CBS News investigation examined federal sentencing documents to catalog the criminal histories of the Jan. 6 defendants, including those eligible for release, should Trump decide to pardon rioters once he takes office. 

This analysis found that at least 159 of the Jan. 6 convicts who have been sentenced have prior criminal records. They include at least 41 people who had been convicted of at least one violent crime prior to their actions on Jan. 6, and at least 5 people with prior records involving violence or threatening behavior toward law enforcement.

Additionally, the CBS News analysis found at least 10 people convicted for their roles on Jan. 6, 2021, also carry past convictions for domestic violence offenses prior to Jan. 6. At least four have faced sex crime allegations.

CBS News' analysis draws on sentencing memoranda filed by Justice Department prosecutors, each of which included a section discussing the defendant's criminal history, if any.

In at least 19 of these sentencing memoranda, prosecutors used a common phrase to describe a defendant's past, noting that Jan. 6 "was not an isolated event in an otherwise law-abiding life."

Among those with criminal histories prior to the Capitol breach is Peter Schwartz, who prosecutors said "has a jaw-dropping criminal history of 38 prior convictions going back to 1991, several of which involved assaulting or threatening officers or other authority figures."

"Schwartz's conduct on January 6, 2021 was not at all out of character for him," prosecutors wrote. "Instead, the violence he displayed that day was just the most recent episode in a three-decade history of assault, violence, and weapons."

Schwartz was convicted of nine felonies and two misdemeanors for his role on Jan. 6 — including four counts of felony assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers using a dangerous weapon — and is currently serving a 14-year sentence.

Read more about potential pardons here.

The Electoral Count Reform Act lays out the process for how Congress will count the electoral votes. Here's how it works:

• At 1 p.m., lawmakers will meet in the House chamber, also known as the Hall of the House of Representatives, for a joint meeting of the House and Senate. 
• Vice President Harris, who serves as the president of the Senate, will open the certificates of the electoral votes from each state in alphabetical order and hand the papers to the "tellers," two of whom have been appointed by the Senate and two by the House, who will read them. 
• After the reading of the certificates, Harris will call for any objections. An objection must be made in writing and be signed by at least one-fifth of the House and Senate and list the grounds for objection. Objections would have to be sustained by both chambers. No Democrats have said they plan to object.
• Congress then counts the votes to affirm the president-elect's victory, with a list of the votes kept by the tellers that will be delivered to Harris to announce the result. 
• The result is then entered into the Journal of both the House and Senate.
• The entire process should take roughly an hour, assuming there are no objections.

CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has this report on what to expect when Congress convenes this afternoon:

Officials have beefed up security around the Capitol as Congress prepares to count the Electoral College votes Monday, amid a number of high-profile events on Capitol Hill this month. 

Law enforcement agencies are coordinating on a number of heightened security measures. Temporary fences have been erected around the perimeter of the Capitol, additional security checks are in effect for staff and media, and personnel from multiple law enforcement agencies and jurisdictions are present at the Capitol ahead of the certification Monday. 

The measures come as the Department of Homeland Security designated the Jan. 6 counting of electoral votes a "national special security event" earlier this year, providing for a greater level of coordination among federal agencies.

Former President Jimmy Carter will also lie in state at the Capitol beginning on Tuesday, and the inauguration is set for later this month.

On Monday, lawmakers will finalize the results of the 2024 election. It was on this day four years ago that now President-elect Donald Trump delivered a speech denying his 2020 defeat, which was followed by an assault on the U.S. Capitol. Trump has pledged pardons for the rioters but has not specified if it'll be all or just some. CBS News' Scott MacFarlane has more:

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled the attack on the Capitol in a statement Monday, saying "our nation watched in horror as a terrorist mob stormed the Capitol grounds and desecrated our Temple of Democracy in a violent attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power" four years ago. 

"The January 6th insurrection shook our Republic to its core — and left behind physical scars and emotional trauma on members of our Congressional community and our Country that endure to this day," Pelosi said.

Pelosi was speaker at the time and was targeted by some of the rioters who searched for her in the Capitol on Jan. 6. In an appearance on "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Pelosi said that the violence "didn't end that day," accusing Trump of stoking continued violence and connecting it to an attack on her husband in 2022. 

In the statement Monday, Pelosi urged Americans not to forget the "extraordinary courage of law enforcement officers," who she said "stood in the breach and stared down the insurrectionists to protect the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution."

The former speaker said Jan. 6 is a reminder "that our precious democratic institutions are only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with their care," hailing how Congress returned to the Capitol to preside over the certification of the election results after the attack in 2021. 

"As we gather today under President Lincoln's dome to uphold our oath and peacefully certify the will of the people, we all share a responsibility to preserve American democracy — which Lincoln called, 'the last best hope of earth,'" she said.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's opponent in the 2024 election, pledged in a social media post Monday morning to "perform my constitutional duty as vice president of the United States to certify the results of the 2024 election," calling it a "sacred obligation."

"The peaceful transfer of power is one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy," Harris said in the minute-long video. "As much as any other principle, it is what distinguishes our system of government from monarchy or tyranny. 

Four years ago, former Vice President Mike Pence presided over the certification of the election results amid a pressure campaign from Trump allies to reject the results. During the process, the vice president reads aloud the electoral votes, before lawmakers count each state's results to affirm the president-elect's victory. A 2022 law further defined the vice president's role as ceremonial. 

Harris concluded in the video that "as we have seen, our democracy can be fragile," adding that it's up to "each one of us to stand up for our most cherished principles."

"And to make sure that in America, our government always remains of the people, by the people and for the people," the vice president said. 

In an op-ed for the Washington Post published Sunday evening, President Biden accused Trump and his allies of trying to rewrite history when it comes to the attack on the Capitol. 

"An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day. To tell us that we didn't see what we all saw with our own eyes. To dismiss concerns about it as some kind of partisan obsession. To explain it away as a protest that just got out of hand," Mr. Biden wrote. "This is not what happened."

The president continued: "In time, there will be Americans who didn't witness the Jan. 6 riot firsthand but will learn about it from footage and testimony of that day, from what is written in history books and from the truth we pass on to our children. We cannot allow the truth to be lost."

He vowed to "do everything I can to respect the peaceful transfer of power and restore the traditions that we have long respected in America," including by inviting Trump to the White House on Jan. 20 and attending his inauguration.

"But on this day, we cannot forget. This is what we owe those who founded this nation, who have fought for it and who have died for it," Mr. Biden wrote.

The violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted the joint session four years ago will be looming over the proceedings when Congress convenes on Monday.

But unlike on Jan. 6, 2021, when then-Vice President Mike Pence faced pressure to unilaterally toss out electoral votes from battleground states, Monday's joint session will be governed by a revised set of procedures that clarify the vice president's role to prevent attempts to overturn the results of an election.

"The 2020 election exposed how ambiguities in the Electoral Count Act could be exploited to sow chaos and disrupt the peaceful transfer of presidential power," said Holly Idelson, a policy strategist at Protect Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. "The bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 will help ensure future transitions proceed smoothly and honor the will of the voters."

Read more about how this Jan. 6 will be different here.

While Congress meets Monday to count the Electoral College votes and affirm Trump's victory in the 2024 election, the roughly 1,500 people accused of storming the Capitol four years ago will be focused on what happens next. 

Charged as part of the largest Justice Department's investigation in history, they have been waiting to see if Trump fulfills his promise to pardon them or commute their sentences.

Prosecutors have charged more than 1,580 defendants with crimes tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, including more than 170 who are accused of using deadly or dangerous weapons like fire extinguishers and bear spray against officers. While a majority were charged with nonviolent misdemeanor crimes, some were accused of conspiring to use force to resist the peaceful transfer of power. Others admitted to fighting officers and attacking members of the media. 

But with Trump's pledge to pardon at least some defendants and shut down the investigation, many of those who breached the Capitol four years ago could see their convictions erased and records wiped clean.

Read more here.

Senators and members of the House will meet in a joint session at 1 p.m. to tally the electoral votes from the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Vice President Kamala Harris will preside in her role as president of the Senate.

The vice president will read aloud the electoral votes, and then Congress counts each state's results to affirm Trump's victory. Trump won 312 Electoral College votes, far surpassing the 270 needed for victory. Harris won 226 votes.

The process is typically a ceremonial step before a president is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Read more about the process here.