Blitz Bureau
WASHINGTON: The U.S. government will increase security for Congress’ certification of the November 5 election result, which is due on January 6, to avoid a repeat of the 2021 attack on the Capitol by supporters of Republican former President Donald Trump.
Special security event
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated the congressional certification of the election as a “national special security event,” the Secret Service said in a statement on September 12.
The counting and certification of 2024 electoral votes will now get the same level of security as the Super Bowl or UN General Assembly, according to Politico. Formal planning is now underway through an executive steering committee of senior representatives from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The designation of congressional certification as national security allows federal government, state and local resources to be dedicated to the security operation. It also puts the Secret Service in charge of the security plan.
The Secret Service said the designation was recommended in reports by a congressional probe and a watchdog investigation into the 2021 Capitol attacks. Trump lost the 2020 election to Democratic President Joe Biden but falsely claimed victory. For weeks after his loss, he urged Congress not to certify the election result.
His supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Congress from certifying Biden’s win. Lawmakers, their families, and staffers fled for their lives as the rioters stalked the halls, invaded representatives’ offices, and called for the hanging of Mike Pence, Trump’s then vicepresident who had rejected his boss’s call to subvert his ceremonial role at the session by blocking the certification process.
Trump’s alleged role was probed by a congressional panel and he has been indicted over accusations of illegally trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. The attack resulted in Trump’s historic second impeachment and more than 1,000 prosecutions of would-be insurrectionists who joined the fray. Republican presidential candidate Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in what polls show to be a tight election race.
