Highlights: Congress certifies Trump's presidential election victory

Former Vice President Mike Pence applauded both parties in Congress and Harris for certifying the 2024 presidential election results, saying in a post on X: "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," he said about today's certification.

Pence commended Congress and added that it was "particularly admirable that Vice President Harris would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost."

Four years ago, Pence followed through on certifying Biden's victory and his own loss in the 2020 election. Trump had publicly urged Pence to put a stop to the certification and Pence's refusal to do so made him a target of the mob's ire. Some of Trump's supporters were seen on video chanting "Hang Mike Pence."

NBC News has seen Speaker Mike Johnson three times today, and none of those times did he respond to reporters' questions on potential Jan. 6 pardons or the plaque commissioned by Congress to honor officers from that day.

In the most recent gaggle, he stopped to talk about reconciliation. Johnson said he texted Sen. Majority Leader John Thune this morning but plans to meet to discuss whether reconciliation should be one or two bills. The House’s plan still remains one bill, said Johnson. 

“The Senate has a little different opinion and perspective on reconciliation and what the wiser strategy is than the House, and that’s OK,” said Johnson. “That’s part of this process”

After meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Harris said in brief remarks to cameras on Capitol Hill that she did today what she's done her entire career: "take seriously the oath that I have taken many times to support and defend the Constitution of the United States."

She said she performed her constitutional duties "to ensure that the people of America, the voters of America, will have their votes counted, that those votes matter and that they will determine, then, the outcome of an election."

"I do believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it," Harris said. "Otherwise, it is very fragile, and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis. And today, America’s democracy stood." 

Upon entering the Senate chamber on Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris issued a simple declaration when asked by NBC News about presiding over the certification of the 2024 election: “Democracy prevails.” 

Minutes later, Harris carried through, steering Congress’ collective endorsement of the electoral vote that she lost and affirming Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who recently stepped down as Senate Republican leader but remains in Congress, didn't attend the joint session.

It's unclear why he wasn't present. His office declined to comment.

McConnell was critical of Trump immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in remarks on the Senate floor. The senator, however, later voted to acquit Trump, along with most other Republicans, after Trump was impeached over his role in the attack on the Capitol.

McConnell also backed Trump in his re-election effort last year.

The senator has had recent health issues, including falling and spraining his wrist at the Capitol in December.

Some members of Congress took photos and selfies as the proceedings wrapped up.

There are many House Republicans crowded around Vance in the well of the House chamber still, taking photos with him and of him.

Harris and Johnson shook each other's hands before she dissolved the joint session of Congress.

Congress has officially certified the 2024 presidential election, which Trump won with 312 electoral votes. Harris read aloud the total, including the 226 electoral votes she won. There were no objections to the certification of any state’s election certificate.

Lawmakers cheered when she read the total for Trump, and members seemed to cheer even louder when she read her total. Vance, who was watching from the front row, also received a large applause.

Republicans in the House chamber cheered and applauded loudly for Vice President-elect JD Vance, who was sitting in the front row, as one of the tellers read the presidential results from Ohio, his home state, which he and Trump won.

Four tellers, two from each chamber — Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. — are taking turns reading the results from states in alphabetical order. 

They're standing at the dais, on the step below Harris and Johnson, reading the number of electoral votes Harris and Trump each won in November. Members of Congress are applauding after each reading, from one side of the aisle or other depending on whether a given state voted for Trump or Harris.

Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman serving 22 years in federal prison after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy, is asking President-elect Donald Trump for a presidential pardon, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.

Nayib Hassan, Tarrio’s lawyer, provided the attached letter to NBC News in which he called the 42-year-old Tarrio a “young man with an aspiring future ahead of him” who was “portrayed throughout the Government’s case as a right-wing extremist that promoted a neo-fascist militant organization” when, Hassan claims, he’s “nothing more than a proud American that believes in true conservative values.” Hassan asks Trump for “a full and complete Presidential Pardon.”

Notably, Hassan struck a much different tone in his letter than he did during trial, when Hassan pointed the finger at Trump.

Vice President-elect JD Vance has a literal front row seat to his own election certification. He’s sitting in the front row next to Sen. Bill Cassidy.

Harris walked in with VP-Elect JD Vance — who is here as the junior senator from Ohio. She told NBC News that “democracy must be upheld by the people."

Harris, as president of the Senate, has called the joint session of Congress to order and directed tellers to take their seats in front of her. 

Four tellers, two from each chamber — Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. — will now take turns reading the results from states in alphabetical order.

At this point, any member can object, but the objection must be submitted in writing and be signed by at least one-fifth of the House and one-fifth of the Senate.

Johnson has gaveled in the proceedings to certify Trump's election victory.

Most of the House Republican side is filled. Very few House Democrats are here.

Vice President Kamala Harris has entered the House chamber to oversee the proceedings certifying Trump's election.

In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized Biden for his executive order banning most new offshore drilling, which was announced today.

"Biden is doing everything possible to make the TRANSITION as difficult as as possible, from Lawfare such as has never been seen before, to costly and ridiculous Executive Orders on the Green New Scam and other money wasting Hoaxes," Trump wrote.

Biden's order will protect 625 million acres of ocean along America's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Bering Sea from "environmental and economic risks and harms."

The Senate pages carrying mahogany boxes with the sealed votes have just left the Senate chamber and are making their way to the House chamber for the Joint Session of Congress.

The pages are followed by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Jennifer Hemingway, Secretary of the Senate Jackie Barber, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough, Senate Tellers Sen. Fischer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. John Thune, Sen. Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Senate. 

Vice President Kamala Harris just entered the Senate chamber and was asked by NBC News how it feels to preside over a Jan. 6 without any protests. She replied, “Democracy prevails."

It varies by year, depending on whether or not there are any objections.  

The 2017 joint session took 41 minutes. The 2013 joint session consumed only 23 minutes.  

Speaker Johnson called today a “great day” as Congress meets to certify the presidential election.

On passing a spending package of GOP priorities under an expedited process known as reconciliation, and the prospect of doing that in either one or two bills, Johnson said he spoke with Trump last night and this morning about the issue.

"We have ongoing and constant dialogue about these issues and what he wants to ensure is that we deliver the 'America First' agenda. That's our mission, that is our intent," he said, adding that all the members of his caucus had held "long work sessions over the weekend" on that point.

"This is a great day for the country," Johnson said. "We’re going to certify the election of Donald J. Trump as the 47th president. That’s our focus today. So stay tuned for the rest."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in remarks on the Senate floor that it's "utterly outrageous" that Trump is considering pardoning the rioters who "broke the law, attacked our police officers on January 6."

Schumer said that doing so would be "a dangerous endorsement of political violence."

"It would send a message to the country and to the world that those who use force to get their way will not be punished," he said. "It is wrong, it is reckless, and it would be an insult to the memory of those who died in connection that day."

The president-elect has repeatedly vowed to pardon many of the Jan. 6 rioters on the first day of his second term.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune congratulated Trump on his victory and offered his outlook ahead of the inauguration.

"The voters sent President Trump here with a mission, and we are committed to ensuring that he has the people around him that he needs to deliver," he said. He added, "I believe that a brighter future is ahead."

The only action on the east side of the Capitol this Jan. 6 are the Architect of the Capitol workers cleaning the snow.

While she couldn't help but think of the "violence and threat" the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol brought to the country, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said in an interview with MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera that "today will be different."

"Democrats are not election deniers," Lofgren said. "I have no respect for Donald Trump, but I do have respect for the process and for American voters. He was elected president, and we will certify that election today."

Lofgren served on the House select committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol, which released an 845-page final report that found Trump "had no basis for claiming victory or that fraud was taking place" in the 2020 election.

Asked if she was discouraged by the fact that more than 100 of the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election are still serving in Congress, Lofgren said, "their efforts to rewrite history will ultimately fail."

"The funny thing is, some of these members the day after January 6, four years ago, they were condemning Trump and decrying the violence. Now it’s as if it didn’t happen," Lofgren said. "So It is sort of a lesson in propaganda, if you will, but ultimately It will not succeed, and I have faith in America."

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., issued a vivid statement today on the Jan. 6 anniversary.

“I still tremble at the mere mention of the date January 6th — a day that is forever tainted with fear, violence and terror,” she said.

“They wanted to hang the Vice President and constructed a gallows to do so on the Capitol Complex. They sought to kill the Speaker of the House and to beat as many of us into submission if they could,” she added.

“We ran and crawled on our knees to safety with the fear of death hanging over our heads," she said. "They left the statues in statuary hall broken and smeared with excrement and blood. Police officers were bloodied, beaten, battered, and died. It was like playing a role in a horror movie and hoping that it would soon come to an end. As far as I am concerned, it never ended.”

Trump said he is “certainly open to talking about 'Dreamers'” during an interview with Hugh Hewitt that aired this morning. 

Hewitt asked Trump if he would include the “regularization of the 'Dreamers'” — undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children — into a single reconciliation bill to attract Democrats. 

“I don’t think it has to be in that bill, but I’m OK with talking about the 'Dreamers.' It’s been a long time," he said, echoing comments he made in December to NBC News "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker.

As Congress meets to certify the results of the 2024 election, the country at large continues to endure the "physical scars and emotional trauma" on the fourth anniversary of the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement.

Pelosi said the nation "watched in horror as a terrorist mob stormed the Capitol grounds" in what she said was a violent attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power. Thanking the law enforcement officers who protected the Capitol for their "extraordinary courage," Pelosi said the events that transpired at the Capitol four years ago "shook our Republic to its core."

"We all share a responsibility to preserve American democracy — which Lincoln called, 'the last best hope of earth,'" Pelosi said in her statement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland praised Justice Department personnel for their efforts to "hold accountable those criminally liable for the January 6 attack on our democracy with unrelenting integrity," in a statement on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riot.

Garland, whose time at the helm of the DOJ has been underscored by the Jan. 6 prosecutions, called the day an "unprecedented attack on a cornerstone of our system of government," saying it was an attempt to undermine the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next.

The attorney general thanked the DOJ prosecutors and FBI agents who conducted the sprawling Jan. 6 investigation that resulted in criminal charges for more than 1,500 individuals involved in the violent Capitol riot, including President-elect Donald Trump for his actions leading up to the attack.

Trump, who has repeatedly claimed without evidence that the Biden DOJ and FBI prosecutions amounted to a weaponization of government against him and his allies, has vowed to grant clemency to at least some of the Jan. 6 defendants after he is sworn into office later this month.

With barricades and snow fortifying the Capitol complex this morning, a lone protester holding an anti-Trump sign was spotted on his bicycle near the 6-foot-tall fencing surrounding the Hill. His sign read: "F--- Donald Trump."

The scene is markedly different than on Jan. 6 four years ago, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol to interrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 win.

Security is intense outside the Capitol today — a night-and-day difference from four years ago.

There are multiple layers of fencing, significant road closures around the complex, and police officers dogged about demanding staff and press show ID. Even for those who are credentialed, it’s a maze to get inside.

During a 15-minute walk inside the Capitol and a nearby Senate office building, this reporter spotted far more police than civilians.

Four years after rioters crashed into Capitol Hill, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he will "never allow the violence that unfolded in plain sight to be whitewashed."

"The thugs who were part of the violent mob on January 6 desecrated the Capitol, threatened to hang the Vice President, assassinate the Speaker of the House and hunt down Members of Congress," the congressman wrote in a statement on Bluesky today.

As Trump is set to be certified for the second time later today, Jeffries pointed to the "violent mob" that attacked the Capitol in 2021 "as part of a concerted effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history."

"They were not peace-loving individuals," Jeffries added.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., falsely claimed in a lengthy post on X this morning that "thousands of peaceful grandmothers" gathered Jan. 6, 2021, to take a tour of the U.S. Capitol building and that people peacefully explored the building.

"Earlier that day, President Trump held a rally, where supporters walked to the Capitol to peacefully protest the certification of the 2020 election. During this time, some individuals entered the Capitol, took photos, and explored the building before leaving," Collins falsely claimed in his post.

He added the untrue claim that since Jan. 6, 2021, "hundreds of peaceful protestors have been hunted down, arrested, held in solitary confinement, and treated unjustly. Countless hours and taxpayer dollars have been spent pursuing innocent grandmothers and raiding President Trump’s home."

Collins' office didn't immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment on his false claims.

Former U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said in an opinion piece published last night in The New York Times that it has been "devastating to me to hear Donald Trump repeat his promise to pardon insurrectionists."

"Releasing those who assaulted us from blame would be a desecration of justice," Gonell wrote. "If Mr. Trump wants to heal our divided nation, he’ll let their convictions stand."

Gonell, who was injured during the riot, has testified about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Gonell wrote that if Trump pardons Jan. 6 defendants, "it could also put me in danger, as I’ve continued to testify in court and I’ve given victim statements in cases against dozens of the rioters who assaulted me and my fellow officers."

Democratic lawmakers sounded a somewhat optimistic tone about how smoothly the certification process set to take place later today can go.

With more security measures in place, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Washington is prepared for today’s certification events. 

“We have, as you note, a new police chief, increased morale, many hundreds of more officers, and we have a plan and a strategy in place,” Klobuchar said yesterday on CNN. “That’s not to say there aren’t threats all the time on members of Congress or on the Capitol, but I feel very strongly that we have made major shifts.”

Biden told reporters yesterday that Jan. 6, 2021, "should not be rewritten."

He went on to emphasize the importance of a peaceful transfer of power, saying, "I've reached out to make sure there's a smooth transition."

"We got to get back to basic, normal transfer of power," he said yesterday after a signing ceremony for the Social Security Fairness Act.

Former Capitol Police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, reflected on the attack’s fourth anniversary as Trump prepares to take office for the second time.

Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, who was assaulted by multiple rioters and sustained injuries requiring surgery, blasted MAGA Republicans who he says “turned their backs on police officers who defended them from Trump’s mob.”

“Pardons or not, Republicans in name only, aka MAGA, can’t erase history. They have turned their backs on police officers who defend them from Trump’s mob. The same mob of rioters who they ran for their lives in fear,” Aquilino wrote in a statement shared with MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera.

Late yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed concern over attendance on Capitol Hill today because of the winter weather and suggested the certification must happen on Jan. 6 no matter what.

"The Electoral Count Act requires this on January 6, at 1pm, so whether we're in a blizzard or not, we're going to be in that chamber making sure this is done," Johnson, R-La., wrote to his colleagues over the weekend.

If some lawmakers are unable to make it into town today, the count could still proceed.