The US Congress will meet on Monday to formally certify the election of Republican Donald Trump as president, exactly four years after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed attempt to block the certification of his 2020 election loss. .
The president-elect continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss was the result of widespread fraud and had warned throughout his 2024 campaign that he harbored similar concerns, until his Nov. 5 victory over incumbent Vice President Democrat Kamala Harris. .
Unofficial results show Trump won 312 electoral college votes, compared to Harris’ 226.
His Republicans also won the majority in the US Senate and a narrow lead in the House of Representatives, which will give Trump room to maneuver to implement his program of tax cuts and crackdowns on immigrants living in the country irregularly, when take the oath on January 20.
Trump has also said he plans to pardon some of the more than 1,500 people accused of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, when a mob clashed with police, forcing their way through doors and windows and chanting “ Hang Mike Pence,” referring to Trump’s then-vice president, in what was ultimately a failed attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory.
In the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, rioters overran police barricades, assaulted approximately 140 officers, and caused more than $2.8 million in damage. Many of the police who fought against the protesters died in the following weeks, some by suicide.
As a result of the violence of that day, Congress approved a law at the end of 2022 that strengthened controls to ensure that the certification process was carried out legally.
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Trump plans to pardon some of the more than 1,500 people charged
Many of the changes responded directly to the actions taken by Trump through January 6, 2021.
For example, the new law makes clear that the vice president’s role is primarily ceremonial.
Any objection to a state’s results must now be raised by at least one-fifth of members of the House and Senate before debates over the objections are triggered.
The House of Representatives has 435 members and the Senate has 100. Previously, only one member of each chamber was required to object to a state’s certification.
Meanwhile, the law specifies that the election of electors must occur in accordance with state laws enacted before election day, which stipulate that state governors must submit lists of electors.
Trump and his delegates in 2021 had tried to recruit substitute voters sympathetic to their cause.
A large security fence has also been erected around the Capitol complex for Presidential Inauguration Day on January 20.
With information from Reuters.
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