Fending off another January 6th

At her recent debate against Donald Trump, Kamala Harris recalled how she was at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, as both an acting U.S. senator and Vice-President-elect, as chaos ensued. “And on that day, the President of the United States incited a violent mob to attack our nation’s Capitol—to desecrate our nation’s Capitol,” she exclaimed, referring to the ogre who was seething beside her.

On January 6, 2025, the four-year anniversary of the attack, Congress will again meet to count and certify the electoral votes at the Capitol. This time around, Joe Biden (and not Trump) will be the sitting President, which will make it difficult for a loser Trump to pull off any intended interruption of the proceedings. However, rather than waiting to see what happens, the federal government is taking proactive measures to help ensure that a peaceful transition occurs.
First, particularly since Trump still has not said whether he will accept the results of the November 5 election, a letter committing to do so is gaining signatures from House members on both sides of the aisle. Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer and Republican Rep. Don Bacon have led the effort, so far getting 25 Democratic and 6 Republican signatures to the letter. Each signatory pledges to “safeguard the fairness and integrity of America’s democratic process” by acknowledging the winner, attending the inauguration, and pushing back against deniers who “endorse or engage in violence.”

Second, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has now designated the Jan. 6 certification as a “National Special Security Event.” This means it will be treated like the State of the Union address and the Super Bowl when it comes to security. According to a recent release from the Secret Service, this ensures that “federal, state, and local partners are committed to developing and implementing a comprehensive and integrated security plan to ensure the safety and security of this event and its participants.”

We are all old enough to remember when such actions would have been laughingly unnecessary. But our new reality is that even the ceremonial counting and verification of electoral votes is under threat, and so we need bipartisan cooperation and enhanced security measures. Hopefully, next year’s certification and inauguration will set the stage for a wave of measures that will further protect and strengthen America’s resilient democracy.