Despite the insurrection that greeted the ratification of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win on Wednesday, Congress has certified him as the 46th president of the United States.
The Vice President Mike Pence who presided over the Congress issued a statement after the counting affirmed Biden’s votes.
“The announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and Vice President of the United States, each for the term beginning on the 20th day of January 2021 and shall be entered together with the list of the votes on the journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Pence said after the count of all the State’s Electoral College votes.
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The Senate and House rejected objections to throw out Georgia and Pennsylvania’s electoral votes for Biden. Other states, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan where Republicans objected to were also upheld after the motion failed before it reached debate.
Only seven senators supported the objection while 92 voted against it. In the House, 138 Republicans voted to uphold the objection while 282, including 64 Republicans voted against it.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated that there would be no further objections to the way for Congress to finish the count and certify Biden as president and Harris as the vice president.
The ratification was done after Congress reconvened following the attack by pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol, which disrupted the process earlier on Wednesday.
In defiance of Trump’s continuous attempt to overturn the outcome of the election, thereby subverting the will of Americans who voted for Biden, Pence broke camp with Trump.
The President has been counting on his vice following the failure of his past efforts, which largely were rejected by courts, to change the result of the election to favor. Pence who played cool until the final days and sided with the majority of American voters declared Biden the winner.
“The announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected President and Vice President of the United States, each for the term beginning on the 20th day of January 2021 and shall be entered together with the list of the votes on the journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Pence said after the ratification.
Following this announcement, the siege around the electoral will of Americans ended. Trump who is under fire even from members of his own party, and is facing the threat of 25th Amendment and impeachment, was forced to accept the decision of the Congress. He said there would be an “orderly transition of January 20.”
“Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted.
“While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement posted on Twitter by White House spokesman Dan Scavino after Congress certified Biden’s win.
However, the event of Wednesday has casted a monument of dent on Trump’s legacy, as more and more people within and outside the United States are rising to condemn the riot at the Capitol, fueled by his post-election utterances and actions.
Trump’s camp is getting smaller as many of his close allies are deserting him. Report from White House said officials are resigning in the wake of the Capitol insurrection. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat have all temporarily suspended Trump’s accounts, and his last three posts have been removed for stoking violence.