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There is no doubt about the outcome – Congress will ratify Joe Biden’s election victory and he will be sworn in on January 20 – but that won’t stop today’s political theater that could drag on late into the night. .
- Here is our guide to watch the certification debate, with input from lawmakers, historians, electoral experts and Ursula Perano of Axios.
Details: The House of Representatives and Senate will meet in joint session in the House chamber at 1 p.m. ET to officially count and certify the 538 electoral votes ratified in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
- Expect objections (in alphabetical order) from members of both chambers to the results in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Other objections can be raised, but to be debated, they must be raised in both houses.
- Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Kelly Loeffler of Georgia and Josh Hawley of Missouri will be among the objectors to watch.
- Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy will designate Rep. Jim Jordan as the Republicans ‘time manager during the debate, a source familiar with the debates told Axios’ Kadia Goba.
- Nothing prevents President Trump from tweeting the proceedings live – and he has called his supporters to the nation’s capital for protests.
Why is this important: The debate will not change the results of the elections. There are more than enough Republican senators and members of the House who have indicated they will recognize certified votes from states to ensure a majority vote to dismiss objections.
- But it will shake the confidence of many Americans in their democracy and delegitimize Biden’s presidency in the eyes of Trump-aligned voters. He will also draw the battle lines for the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
- He could also test the potential for future alliances between Biden and besieged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, per Margaret Talev of Axios – if McConnell determines the Democrats can help him manage this separating flank of his own party.
How it works: Vice-President Mike Pence will take the chair. If he decides to delegate the work, which is not planned, he would go to Senator Chuck Grassley as President of the Senate Pro Tempore.
Trump has put pressure on Pence overturn the election results, but that is outside of Pence’s ceremonial powers.
- Pages will bring ceremonial mahogany boxes filled with state votes, which are placed at the front of the room. Pence will then present the certificates of the electoral votes in alphabetical order.
- He will deliver each envelope to one of the four scrutineers – who will be the rank and minority members of the Rules of the Senate and House Administration committees. They will open the envelopes and read the total votes.
- Pence will begin with Alabama and end with Wyoming, stating that each state’s certificate “appears to be in regular and genuine form.”
- It has the power to recognize any legislator who opposes it.
- Any member can stand up and oppose. If it is written and signed by both a member of the House and a member of the Senate, the Senate leaves the Chamber and returns to the Senate for debate.
- Each chamber debates each objection separately, with a limit of two hours, and takes a vote on the objection. Then, the Senate joins the Chamber and the results of the votes are announced.
- After the vote, they will move to the next state and start the process again.
- Once all the votes have been recorded and counted, Pence will announce whether Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have received the required majority votes. If this is the case, the advertisement will be considered “sufficient statement”.
Timetable: The process is expected to continue until late Wednesday evening and could extend until Thursday depending on how long lawmakers want to put in place the objection process.
Go further: Read the Congressional Research Service guide to counting votes
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