WASHINGTON — Another week of congressional ceremonies gets underway Monday, just as a snowstorm bears down on Washington, though the memories of the rioting four years ago won’t be lost on Capitol Hill.

Congress meets in joint session at 1 p.m. for the counting of Electoral College ballots, a constitutional function that was disrupted by insurrectionists four years ago. But this year is expected to go according to plan, with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House in two weeks.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill will also join the rest of the government and the nation in paying respects to the late President Jimmy Carter this week.

Carter’s casket is scheduled to arrive Tuesday afternoon at the Capitol Rotunda, where he will lie in state until early Thursday morning.

A state funeral for the former president is scheduled for Thursday at Washington National Cathedral.

As the ceremonies proceed, the new Republican majorities will use this week to start to set the table for Trump’s agenda. It follows Friday’s swearing-in of new members and Saturday’s House GOP gathering at Fort McNair in Washington.

Trump himself reiterated that Sunday night in a post on Truth Social, highlighting just how expansive he wants the reconciliation measure to be.

“Members of Congress are getting to work on one powerful Bill that will bring our Country back, and make it greater than ever before,” Trump wrote. “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. IT WILL ALL BE MADE UP WITH TARIFFS, AND MUCH MORE, FROM COUNTRIES THAT HAVE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF THE U.S. FOR YEARS.”

That’s in reference to the ongoing question of whether congressional Republicans will attempt to package key elements of their legislative agenda into one budget reconciliation package or divide it in two, with immigration and border security provisions potentially moving ahead of the tax policy agenda.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” this weekend, “I think at the end of the day, President Trump is going to prefer, as he likes to say, one big, beautiful bill.” But other Republicans have argued for a more limited first bill, given the complexity of the tax proposals in particular.

While the House and Senate begin to sort that out, the House is set to take up the first legislation of the 119th Congress, including a number of government transparency measures including for Amtrak and the Tennessee Valley Authority.

It’s all systems go for the House — and the electoral vote counting — because Johnson succeeded in maneuvering to get the final votes to win reelection as speaker on Jan. 3.

There was no need for jockeying in the Senate leadership elections, though, where it was all pomp and circumstance. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, was elected president pro tempore, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., assumed the role of majority leader.

Thune said in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Senate and its committees would work to get Trump’s nominees confirmed.

“I think you give great deference and latitude to a president when it comes to people he wants to put into key positions. And national security ones are especially important. But the Senate has a role: advise and consent. And we intend, we have a lot of our senators who take that role very seriously,” Thune said.

Harris’ last acts

Friday’s official proceedings in the Senate chamber recognizing Thune were among Vice President Kamala Harris’ last acts in her capacity of president of the Senate before her term expires on Jan. 20.

Her remaining duties also include presiding over Monday’s joint session to count Electoral College ballots, certifying that Trump defeated her in 2024.

The vice president also had a last tour of duty leading the traditional mock swearing-in ceremonies in the Old Senate Chamber. As has happened before, a senator’s young son stole the show.

“I’m sorry you didn’t win,” Sen. Ruben Gallego’s son Michael said to Harris. Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, was among the newly elected senators trying to take in the first day.

“Don’t you worry about it, because there’s still so much work to do,” Harris said to Michael.

“We’re not defeated,” the vice president said, before asking the boy for a high five.

In another amusing moment caught by the television camera audio, one of the daughters of Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., seemed to tell Harris that she had voted for the Democrat for president.

“I could tell,” Harris replied.

There were family photos, and even at least one vice presidential selfie (though maybe not as many as when current President Joe Biden had the job back in 2017). Harris at one point advised incoming Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to straighten up and tighten his necktie. And the sons of Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., were carrying around business cards, including to give to the vice president.

Kim, who was a House member four years ago on Jan. 6, memorably helped clean up the mess left behind by the insurrectionist mob in the Capitol Rotunda — the same place lawmakers and the public will traverse this week to pay their respects as Carter’s remains rest upon the Lincoln catafalque.

David Lerman contributed to this report.

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