Congress confirmed the Electoral College vote count early Thursday morning and President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s victory, finishing its work after an all-night joint session and a day of mob violence on Capitol Hill.
Vice President Mike Pence announced the tally, 306-232, which was the same result recorded in the Nov. 3 vote and certified by the Electoral College on Dec. 14.
President Trump responded with a pledge that there “will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”
The president, whose Twitter account was locked after he riled up pro-Trump protesters that stormed the Capitol, had the message tweeted by his social media director Dan Scavino.
“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,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump’s actions Wednesday, including firing up the crowd at a rally before the mob advanced to the Capitol, spurred new talk of removing him from office through impeachment or the 25th Amendment, though he has just two weeks remaining in office.
The 25th Amendment provides for replacing the president for various reasons including if he is unfit to serve. The vice president then takes over.
The rioting at the Capitol left a woman dead. The female demonstrator, identified as Air Force veteran Ashli Babbit of California, was shot in the neck inside the Capitol, apparently by a police officer. She died later at a hospital.
The mobs overrunning the Capitol on Wednesday temporarily halted the Congress’ work accepting the results. The progress of opening envelopes and confirming each state’s election results then moved slowly through the night as Republicans raised objections.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who helped lead the objections to the Electoral College results, defended it as “the right thing to do.”
Mr. Cruz also condemned the violent protests on Capitol Hill and called for a “peaceful and orderly transition of power.”
Mr. Biden is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20.
The objections were raised over the vote count in contested states such as Arizona and Pennsylvania. The objections stem from the same allegations of ballot fraud and voting irregularities that have been promoted by Mr. Trump and fueled a massive pro-Trump demonstration in Washington that culminated in the storming of the Capitol.
Mr. Trump has insisted that Democrats “stole” the election.
In all, 121 House Republicans voted against Arizona’s electoral votes, and 138 Republicans voted against Pennsylvania’s results.In the Senate, six GOP senators voted against Arizona’s results and seven Republicans voted against Pennsylvania’s total.
House Republicans’ objections to the election results in Georgia, Nevada and Michigan failed for lack of a senator to sponsor them.
Mr. Pence announced the final results around 3:40 a.m. on Thursday.
“The whole number of electors appointed to vote for President of the U.S. is 538, of which a majority is 270. … Joseph R Biden, of the state of Delaware received for president of the U.S., 306 votes. Donald J. Trump of the state of Florida has received 232,” Mr. Pence said. “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.”
• Dave Boyer contributed to this report.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.