WASHINGTON — With heavily armed security surrounding the quiet, snow-covered U.S. Capitol complex, federal lawmakers marked the anniversary of the violent Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the capital with a peaceful transfer of power four years later, quickly certifying Donald Trump’s win that will return him to the White House in two weeks.
The contrast between the last certification — the worst assault on the Capitol in two centuries — and the scene Monday was stark.
Though Trump’s victory had muted any challenges he or his supporters would have had to the election certification, the Department of Homeland Security deemed the day a “special security event,” creating a wide perimeter with tall black fencing around the Capitol and surrounding buildings.
The usual tourist-packed halls were vacant, with the storm also keeping many staffers away for the day, as lawmakers traversed the building and gathered for a rare joint session of the House and Senate.
“The votes for president of the United States are as follows. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 312 votes,” Vice President Kamala Harris, presiding over the certification of her own loss, said as hundreds of Republicans cheered and jumped to their feet.
The peaceful ceremony went through the results of every state.
As Maryland’s 10 electoral college votes were read into the record for Harris, newly sworn-in U.S. Reps. Johnny Olszewski, Jr. and Sarah Elfreth applauded and reached over a congresswoman sitting between them to give each other a fist bump.
“The peaceful transfer of power is at the very foundation of our country’s democracy — and it is my hope that today’s election certification is a step toward a productive and collaborative Congressional session,” Olszewski said.
The Baltimore County Democrat also said it was a day of remembrance for the law enforcement who “defended our nation from violent efforts to overthrow the 2020 election.”
More than 140 officers were assaulted as protestors stoked by Trump’s false claims of election fraud broke through barriers and entered the Capitol during the last certification. About 1,500 people were charged and 1,200 convicted in the event, which also left five dead.
Trump, who was impeached in the House but acquitted in the Senate for his actions leading up to and during the assault, has said he will pardon some of those who pleaded guilty or were convicted after his inauguration on Jan. 20.
U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, a St. Mary’s County Democrat who sat next to his longtime partner in House leadership, Nancy Pelosi, on Monday, criticized attempts to “sanitize the reality of that terrible day.”
“Trump described the insurrection as ‘a day of love.’ Those besieged in our Capitol that day can attest that January 6 was a day of violence, sedition, and hate that left more than 140 police officers injured, two of whom tragically died,” Hoyer said in a statement.
Trump’s return to power follows four years of investigations and a campaign season in which some candidates and voters worried about what it would mean to send Trump back to the White House.
Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who ran for the U.S. Senate last year, often discussed his decision to send the Maryland National Guard to Washington during the attack.
And Harry Dunn, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who resigned to run for an Anne Arundel County-based congressional seat, campaigned heavily on his role in combatting rioters that day. That included a campaign launch video depicting a dramatic reenactment with Dunn walking calmly through a hallway being ransacked.
Dunn lost the Democratic primary to Elfreth and went on to campaign for President Joe Biden and then Harris across the country.
Another Marylander who played a prime role in highlighting and investigating the attack was U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin. The Montgomery County Democrat was the lead impeachment manager as the House looked to oust Trump for inciting an insurrection, and he was a top figure on the committee that thoroughly investigated what led to the attack.
Trump has threatened to target his political opponents for their role in investigating Jan. 6. He said last month that former Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney should be prosecuted for her work on the committee that Raskin also served on.
Raskin, who published a memoir in 2022 about the experience and the death of his son one week before Jan. 6, sat through the ceremony Monday in the House chamber. He smiled and chatted with colleagues on the floor before taking his seat directly behind House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.
Olszewski, Elfreth and fellow freshman U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney, meanwhile, sat nearby in the nearly packed House chamber.
They and other Democrats applauded as states were called for Harris — including Maryland, which gave the vice president one of her strongest statewide wins in the country.
On the Republican side of the chamber, representatives and senators repeatedly stood and cheered as their states were called for Trump. JD Vance, the incoming vice president, sat in the front row and was mobbed by colleagues asking for photos after the 30-minute session.
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, the only Republican in Maryland’s federal delegation, said in a social media post that the certification signals House Republicans in the majority are only a few days away from working with Trump to “make America safe again … healthy again … [and] great again.”
Democrats like Raskin, the party’s new ranking member of the influential House Judiciary Committee, say Monday means something else — the next stage of an effort that began years ago.
“We’re still in the fight of our lives. It’s not over by a long shot,” Raskin said Sunday in an interview on MSNBC. “The struggle between authoritarian lies and democracy and the struggle for the common good continues.”
Have a news tip? Sam Janesch can be reached at sjanesch@baltsun.com.