It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

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Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters

It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

FINAL INAUGURATION COUNTDOWN
By Kyle Midura, @KyleMidura ([link removed])
Politics Producer

It’s been a week since the Associated Press made its final race call ([link removed]) of the 2024 campaign season. And two newly elected senators have already taken their seats ([link removed]) weeks ahead of their peers.

But this Congress still has work to do. Several procedural steps remain before the next Congress and president can get to work.

Mark your calendars.

Dec. 11. (Part 1) The federal deadline to certify winners

Our wonderful peers at AP do not have the final say on which candidates won or lost.

Ever since polls closed Nov. 5, local and state election officials, and in some instances, outside auditors, have been poring over ballots and results. Every state except Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island ([link removed]) have set earlier deadlines for their final, official tallies.

Dec. 11. (Part 2) Electors are chosen

In capitals across the country, slates of electors representing the Electoral College votes of each state and Washington, D.C., will be certified. There are 538 of them ([link removed]) , one for each voting member of Congress and three for D.C. U.S. territories do not get votes. This step must be done six days before ([link removed]) the next major deadline.

Dec. 17. The Electoral College meets

President-elect Donald Trump won 312 Electoral College votes in this year’s election, exceeding the 270 needed to win the presidency. This year they’ll be cast on Dec. 17 when each state’s electors meet. ([link removed])

Most electors are required to vote in line with the popular vote tally in their state. About a dozen states have no such requirements and no laws governing “faithless electors,” those who cast a vote for someone other than their state’s popular vote winner. Only 90 such presidential votes ([link removed]) have ever been cast. (Most of these were because of the nominee’s death and none have ever changed the outcome of a presidential election.)

The 2020 campaign of then-President Donald Trump tried to circumvent that year’s results by appointing its own slate of fake electors. The bipartisan Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 clarified which electors are “real,” ([link removed]) along with some other changes we’ll get to a bit later in this rundown. Suffice to say, Trump’s election is assured.

Dec. 20. The annual holiday budget spectacular

Not everything at this time of year is about next year.

Congress is still ironing out its military spending plan. And the federal government will shut down if there’s no new spending law or stopgap bill in place by Dec. 20.

You can expect Congress to push right up against or just beyond the deadline because, well, Congress. Budgeting gimmicks can keep most government functions operating for about a month without a new deal in place.

While the House Freedom Caucus doesn’t like stopgaps ([link removed]) , few Republicans will want to start their new majority in a shutdown. Democrats may be able to extract some concessions before they lose the Senate and White House in the New Year. And being home for the holidays tends to be one of the few incentives capable of getting Congress to strike a bipartisan deal.

Expect a deal to get done in the same way some of us start shopping — as close as possible to the holiday.

Dec. 25. Santa (and the U.S. Postal Service) physically deliver the electoral results

After the Electoral College votes on Dec. 17, each state has to certify its votes to Congress. The president of the Senate and the national archivist must receive these votes no later than the fourth Wednesday in December, as laid out here. ([link removed])

No word on whether Santa will hand-deliver the certificates since he’ll be out for other deliveries that night.

Jan. 3. Swearing in the 119th Congress

The new Congress gets sworn in. ([link removed])

The first order of business in the House after members take the oath: picking a speaker, among other leaders, and adopting its rules.

House Speaker Mike Johnson appears well-positioned to hold onto the gavel. ([link removed]) (Though that could change if there’s late-December budget drama with the House Freedom Caucus.)

The to-do list for the Senate is similar. But the incoming Republican majority has already tapped Sen. John Thune of South Dakota as its new majority leader. While Sen. Mitch McConnell is stepping away from leadership, he’s not stepping away from Congress. If this sounds familiar: House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi ran for and won re-election to another term ([link removed]) last month after stepping away from party leadership.

Republican majorities in both chambers are expected to immediately begin work on passing President-elect Trump’s agenda, even as Biden remains president for another two-and-a-half weeks.

Jan. 6. Congress convenes to count votes

Ticking through one state at a time, Vice President Kamala Harris will announce the results of each state’s Electoral College votes.

The 2022 Electoral Count Reform Act we referenced earlier also clarified that the vice president’s role in this process is “ministerial.” In other words, she has no power to accept, reject or rule on any disputes over electors.

Objecting to electors, as a majority of House Republicans and some senators did in 2020 ([link removed]) , was novel not in practice but in its scope. Democrats raised objections to slates of electors in 2001 ([link removed]) , 2005 ([link removed]) and 2017 ([link removed]) . This year, it will be harder for any objection to be heard. Previously, only a single member from both chambers needed to register their concern to force a vote. Now, reforms in the Electoral Count Reform Act have raised the requirement for objections: 20 percent of both chambers is needed before an objection to a state’s
electoral slate is considered.

Also, expect the security presence on Capitol Hill to be dramatically increased ([link removed]) compared to four years ago, when a violent and deadly riot interrupted the certification of votes.

Jan. 20. Move-in date at 1600 Pennsylvania

Donald J. Trump will raise his hand and repeat the oath of office. In so doing, he’ll become only the second U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms and the oldest president to ever take the oath.

The nation will watch to see if he can fulfill the promises he made for Day 1, Week 1 ([link removed]) and his first 100 days back in office.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: Syria seeks to build a functioning government after the fall of the autocratic Assad dynasty. ([link removed])
* One Big Question: What is the U.S.' interest in Syria? Jon Finer, the U.S. deputy national security advisor, weighs in. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: What to expect from the Syrian opposition coming to power ([link removed]) after toppling Assad.
* Perspectives: Brooks and Capehart on Biden’s pardon and Trump nominees facing scrutiny. ([link removed])

THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION

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Watch the segment in the player above.

By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

And now, something aquiline. ([link removed])

The bald eagle. Undisputedly our nation’s symbol. Ever since it was engraved on the Great Seal of the United States ([link removed]) in 1782, the bird has appeared everywhere from military insignia, formal government documents and U.S. currency.

Turns out: For centuries, the bald eagle has soared as our nation’s unofficial bird. Congress never officially designated a national bird. A new bill working through Congress ([link removed]) hopes to change that.

If approved, the bald eagle could join our nation’s other official symbols, including the rose and the oak tree.

Our question: What is America’s national mammal?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Which founding father introduced the idea of pardon power at the Constitutional Convention?

The answer: Alexander Hamilton. ([link removed]) According to the White House Historical Association, there was debate at the convention about whether pardon power could lie with the Senate, before ultimately giving the power to the president.

Congratulations to our winners: Ed Witt and Ann Pineault!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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