Today marks the Jan. 6 certification of the Electoral College by Congress of the reelection of Donald Trump to the Presidency, only the second time in U.S. history a president has been elected to non-consecutive terms in the White House, the first being Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892. Following the unsuccessful assassination attempt of Trump on July 13, 2024, his election is almost certainly the greatest political comeback ever.
Unlike the last two certifications, where challenges were unsuccessfully brought to the floor of Congress in 2017 and 2021 — the first as Trump’s opposition accused him of conspiring with Russia to steal the election and the second as Trump alleged mail-in ballots were improperly used to tip an otherwise close election — 2025 looks more to be a routine certification.
Part of that was the relatively overwhelming result on Trump’s side in the November 2024 election. Trump was the first Republicans since George W. Bush to win the popular vote with 77.3 million over Vice President Kamala Harris — who will oversee the Congressional certification under the Constitution — who received 75 million votes. Republicans had lost the popular vote in their 2000 and 2016 wins, a fact that was used politically to delegitimize the elected president. Not so today.
Congress also modified the process undertaken at Jan. 6 Electoral College certifications by Congress following the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, downgrading the role played by the Vice President to a more ceremonial role. While certainly there will be some who will want to revisit the 2021 certification, and also talk about Trump’s plan to pardon and/or commute the sentences of protesters, none of it will impede the certification.
Trump also completed the trifecta with Republicans winning both the House (albeit very closely) with 219 to 215 seats and the Senate with 53 seats to 47 seats, paving the way for a relatively easy certification insofar as even if Democrats brought objections to the certification, there simply would not be the votes in Congress to overturn the outcome of the election and the popular mandate of the people.
Trump’s legislative majorities also will clear the way for early passage of key aspects of the Trump agenda, much of which will be incorporated into an upcoming budget bill, expected to be introduced as soon as the formalities of completing the presidential transition are in place.
In a post on Truth Social on Jan. 5, Trump called for immediate action on the budget bill to secure the border, incentivize energy production and cut taxes, stating, “Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before. We must Secure our Border, Unleash American Energy, and Renew the Trump Tax Cuts, which were the largest in History, but we will make it even better – NO TAX ON TIPS.”
Trump suggested that the package could be made budget neutral by including his plan tariffs for reciprocal tariff authority, stating, “IT WILL ALL BE MADE UP WITH TARIFFS, AND MUCH MORE, FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE U.S. FOR YEARS.”
And Trump included a word of warning for Congressional Republicans to deliver on what was promised to American people, and to do so quickly, stating, “Republicans must unite, and quickly deliver these Historic Victories for the American People. Get smart, tough, and send the Bill to my desk to sign as soon as possible. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
These sentiments echoed those of newly reelected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who speaking on Fox’s “Sunday Morning Futures” on Jan. 5 said he was rejecting a Senate plan for there to be two budget bills instead of one, stating, “I think at the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big, beautiful bill,” adding, “there will be enough elements in there to pull everyone along. So I think keeping it together is how we’ll actually get it done.”
Johnson indicated that it could all be done by April in the House and May in the Senate — provided everyone is on the same page.
Given the narrow legislative majority particularly in the House, Trump appears to be opting for urgency to create pressure for Congress to act quickly on the major elements. Not a bad idea, particularly with special elections coming up to fill the seats of Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the latter of whom resigned after withdrawing from Trump’s nomination of him to Attorney General.
Certainly, by the end of the year, Congress will begin paying attention to the 2026 Congressional midterms, making a two-bill approach appear riskier once the political headwinds come into play.
But for now, with the Jan. 6 certification to be followed by the Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump is rapidly setting his agenda before he even takes office. For the moment, he is the once and future president.
Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government.