It’s unclear whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump will win the White House this fall.
But we do know two things.
The 2024 presidential election is likely to be close, and whoever wins, Harris will co-decide the outcome on January 6, 2025, when the House and Senate convene in a joint session to certify the Electoral College results.
She is expected to do so.
The House and Senate are scheduled to convene in a joint session on January 6, 2025 to certify whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Trump won the 2024 presidential election. (Getty Images)
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The House and Senate adjudicate the electoral votes on January 6th once every four years. That’s why four years ago, this day was so controversial. It turned into a riot and became one of the ugliest days in American history. The normally sleepy and ceremonial event of counting and certifying the electoral votes on January 6th will forever stand as a major national security event on a par with the State of the Union. And whether we like it or not, the controversy over the certification process on January 6th next year is likely to be fueled by the fact that Harris is the leading Democratic candidate and will be on the podium to decide whether she wins or loses.
This scenario is just another radioactive political isotope that will exacerbate an already volatile political situation. It is made worse by the fact that January 6, 2025, is the day that Congress will meet to certify the Electoral College for the first time since the chaos that unfolded almost four years ago. It is made worse by the fact that that day will determine whether Trump officially wins or loses.
The Vice President, along with the Speaker of the House, presides over joint sessions of Congress. Under the Constitution, the Vice President also serves as the President of the Senate, the only leader of the Senate mentioned in the Constitution. Joint sessions of Congress are special congressional events. Congress convenes in such sessions only to deliver the President’s State of the Union address and to certify the results of the Electoral College.
The vice president may avoid joint sessions. A joint session of Congress (note the subtle difference). They look the same, but they’re not. Both houses of Congress meet in the House of Representatives chamber for a joint session. This only happens when lawmakers are hosting a foreign dignitary. Notably, Harris did not chair the joint session of Congress held for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month.
However, the Speaker always presides as the leading figure in the House and the constitutional head of the legislative branch.
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Protesters supporting President Trump rallied at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
It’s unclear who will join Harris on stage at next year’s electoral certification ceremony. That will depend on which party wins the House of Representatives. According to the Constitution, the new Congress will take office at noon on January 3 and must first elect a speaker. If Republicans maintain control, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is likely to be elected, but if Democrats take the House, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is likely to be selected.
The certification of the electoral votes will take place as planned on January 6. This will give the new Congress several days to prepare after it takes office on January 3. Additionally, because Congress is tasked with certifying the election on January 6, this will allow ample time to prepare for the presidential inauguration on January 20.
It is not in the interest of the vice president to preside over a joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College. Vice President Richard Nixon presided over his own reelection with President Dwight Eisenhower at the January 1957 joint session. Nixon also served as vice president at the January 1961 joint session, where he was defeated by President John F. Kennedy. Vice President Hubert Humphrey was the Democratic candidate in 1968, and therefore co-presided over the January 1969 joint session where Nixon was finally inaugurated as president.
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Speaking of Minnesota, Vice President Walter Mondale presided over the 1981 joint session when President Jimmy Carter and Mondale himself lost to President Ronald Reagan. Future President George H. W. Bush oversaw Reagan’s and his own reelection in January 1985. Later, as vice president, Bush presided over his own presidential victory in January 1989. But things were not so gratifying for former Vice President Dan Quayle four years later. Quayle co-chaired the January 1993 joint session when Bush and Mondale lost to President Bill Clinton.
In January 1997, Vice President Al Gore took to the podium to campaign for Clinton and his own reelection. But four years later, Gore found himself in a particularly awkward position at the podium. After the 2000 election, Gore lost to President George W. Bush in 2001 in one of the most controversial elections in U.S. history. During a joint session, members of the Congressional Black Caucus famously tried to challenge Florida’s electoral count, an election Gore lost. But not a single member of the House of Representatives offered a cosponsorship in the Senate to challenge Florida’s electoral count.
Joe Biden presided over the Electoral College certification of President Barack Obama’s reelection in January 2013. (Brendan Smiarowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is one of the voices pushing the debate over Florida’s electors. Gore asked her if there were any petitioners in the Senate.
Waters responded that she wasn’t and that she “wasn’t concerned.”
Gore interrupted Waters with a generous remark, drawing thunderous applause.
“We care about the rules,” Gore noted.
Vice President Dick Cheney was there to campaign for President Bush 43 and his own reelection in January 2005. But Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, seriously challenged Ohio’s electoral rolls.
Biden led President Barack Obama’s reelection bid in January 2013, which saw him return as vice president, and helped oversee Trump’s victory in January 2017.
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And, of course, we all know by now the efforts Trump supporters made to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021.
Things will be a little different in January 2025. In late 2022, Congress adopted major amendments to the outdated 19th-century Electoral Count Act, which governed the electoral certification procedure. One of the biggest changes was to clarify that the Vice President’s role is merely ceremonial. Lawmakers wanted to make it clear that the Vice President does not have the power to approve or reject a particular slate of electors. In addition, the new law made it more difficult for lawmakers to challenge a state’s electoral roll. Previously, only one House member and one Senator were needed to sign a petition. Current law requires the participation of one-fifth of members of both houses to challenge a state’s electoral votes.
That means that win or lose, Harris doesn’t have much of a role beyond attending.
But just knowing that she will be on the ballot as the Democratic Party’s standard-bearer, determining whether she wins or loses, reinforces the procedural nature of this, especially after what we witnessed four years ago.
