The US Congress formally certified Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s November election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, clearing the way for him to be sworn in on January 20.
The certification of the election results on Monday in the 50 states and the District of Columbia was accomplished in a brief, formal ceremony during a joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate.
It was presided over by Harris, acting in her vice-presidential role as president of the Senate.
The quadrennial ritual stood in sharp contrast to four years ago when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to block the certification of then-president Trump’s 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud and had warned throughout his 2024 campaign that he harboured similar concerns until his Nov 5 defeat of Harris.
“Congress certifies our great election victory today — a big moment in history. MAGA!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
The joint session of Congress proceeded even as a winter storm hovered over the nation’s capital, dropping about 15 centimetres of snow and snarling travel.
The final certification backed up preliminary findings that Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’s 226.
Republicans control White House, Congress
Republicans also captured a majority in the US Senate and held a narrow edge in the House in November’s election, which will give Trump the party support he needs to implement his planned agenda of tax cuts and a crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.
Democrats did not try to block the certification of Trump’s victory.
“We must renew our commitment to safeguarding American democracy,” No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark said in a statement earlier in the day.
“As elected leaders, our loyalty must be to the Constitution, first and always. We are here to honour the will of the people and the rule of law.”
