A federal jury in Washington, D.C., awarded Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss $148 million in December, determining that Rudy Giuliani had made false accusations of fraud against them. The two women counted absentee ballots at State Farm Arena during the 2020 election. A month after the election, Giuliani presented security footage to a Georgia Senate panel, claiming it showed election workers illegally counting fake ballots retrieved from beneath a table after observers left. Giuliani appealed the verdict to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, denouncing the ruling as an 'absurdity' and predicting it would be 'reversed so quickly it will make your head spin.'

In separate legal developments, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on Monday siding with states that accept late-arriving mail ballots. Last week, the Court issued back-to-back rulings that barred two of President Donald Trump’s executive orders seeking to change national election rules. Additionally, court rulings have prevented the Department of Justice from obtaining detailed state voter data. These judicial decisions constrained President Trump's influence regarding his attempts to influence U.S. election procedures.

President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president on January 21, 2025, becoming the second president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first convicted felon to hold the office. Vice President JD Vance was sworn in shortly before Trump. According to NBC News, Trump signed executive orders on that day, including orders banning birthright citizenship, declaring a national emergency at the southern border, and delaying the TikTok ban.