Harris stood alongside Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson as both watched as the Electoral College votes were counted.
Though Harris called the joint session to order, she played no role in the counting or reading of the Electoral College vote totals.
Instead, selected tellers — members of the House and Senate chosen by leadership — read out the states and their vote results in alphabetical order.
Once all the states had been read out, Harris called for the House and Senate tellers to report the result.
Unlike four years ago, not a single senator or representative objected to the certification, and Harris was able to exit after completing her duties.
Exactly four years after the worst attack on the United States was carried out by a group of Donald Trump’s supporters. S. Vice President Kamala Harris presided over a joint session of Congress to grant Trump the peaceful transfer of power she had been denied following the 2020 election, because Major General Robert Ross had ordered British soldiers to set the Capitol on fire more than 200 years ago.
At precisely 1:00 p.m., Harris, who four years prior had served as both the vice president-elect and the current junior senator from California, led senators from their chamber across the Capitol’s opulent rotunda into the House chamber. A. According to US law, Congress must formally certify the election of the next president and vice president on Monday.
To courteous cheers from both sides of the aisle, she smiled as she walked into the chamber. She passed a beaming Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had been a vocal supporter of the rioters who had stormed the same room four years prior. The vice president-elect, JD Vance, arrived soon after and sat in the front row. As the Electoral College votes were tallied, Harris and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson stood together.
This year’s joint session used a new process that lawmakers developed in response to Trump’s attempt to overturn the election results four years ago, as opposed to four years ago when then-vice president Mike Pence read out the results and asked if senators or representatives had any objections to each state’s electoral vote totals.
She was not involved in the reading or counting of the Electoral College vote totals, even though Harris called the joint session to order. Rather, leadership-selected members of the House and Senate, known as “selected tellers,” read out the states and their vote results in alphabetical order.
As each state’s results were announced, Harris remained silent while Pence took a moment to solicit objections and read additional parliamentary language regarding the origin of the electoral certificates.
Following the reading of the Texas results, Trump’s vote total exceeded the 270 required to win the presidency.
After every state was read out, Harris demanded that the Senate and House tellers report the outcome. She then announced to the joint session, “The following are the votes for President of the United States: Donald J. Florida candidate Donald Trump has 312 votes. California’s Kamala D. Harris has garnered 226 votes. “”.
After that, Harris informed the gathered members of the House and Senate that Vance had received 312 votes and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, had received 226. This was the outcome for the next vice president.
“The President of the Senate’s announcement of the vote’s status will be considered an adequate declaration of the individuals elected as the United States’ president and vice president, each for a term starting on January 20, 2025, and will be entered.”. along with the vote list on the House and Senate journals,” she stated.
In contrast to the nearly 15 hours that passed between Pence’s announcement of Biden and Harris as the winners in the early hours of January 7 following the riot by the then-president’s supporters that forced lawmakers to cower in place after escaping the House and Senate chambers for their lives, this process only took 30 minutes.
The certification was accepted without any objections from senators or representatives, unlike four years ago, and Harris was free to leave after her work was done.
“I will fulfill my constitutional duty as Vice President of the United States to certify the results of the 2024 election,” she said in a pre-recorded video message, referring to her position as “a sacred obligation—one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and my unwavering faith in the American people.”.
One of the cornerstones of American democracy is the peaceful transition of power. It is the principle that sets our system of government apart from tyranny or monarchy more than any other, she stated.
Later that day, when the joint session was over, Harris reiterated those remarks in a few short statements to reporters.
The drama-free certification that had occurred “should be the norm” and is “what the American people should be able to take for granted .,” she claimed, adding that it had been “obviously a very important day.”. that power will be transferred amicably. “.”.
“Today, I fulfilled my constitutional duties to ensure that the American people, or voters, will have their votes counted, that those votes matter, and that they will determine the outcome of an election,” she said, adding that she had taken seriously the oath she had taken numerous times to support and defend the US Constitution.
Harris’s predecessor, Pence, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the “peaceful transfer of power” was a “hallmark of our democracy” and that senators and representatives had validated the election “without controversy or objection.”. “”.
“My deepest congratulations and prayers go out to President Donald J., and I welcome the return of order and civility to these historic proceedings.”. The president and vice president, J. “Ddot Vance on being elected to lead this wonderful country,” he remarked.
He also gave praise to the members of the House and Senate, including Harris, who he said “did their duty under the Constitution of the United States.” Harris’s actions were deemed “particularly admirable” because, like Pence, she presided over the certification of a presidential election that she lost. “.”.
