The United States Congress has certified Donald Trump’s victory in November’s presidential election, clearing a final hurdle for his return to the White House later this month.
Monday’s ceremony in Congress officially validated the 2024 Electoral College results.
Overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s main rival in the election, the event passed quickly and with little fanfare.
“Today was obviously a very important day,” Harris, who also serves as the president of the Senate, said in remarks afterwards.
“It was about what should be the norm and what the American people should be able to take for granted, which is that one of the most important pillars of our democracy is that there will be a peaceful transfer of power.”
The largely procedural affair marked a stark contrast with the last time Congress convened to certify Electoral College votes, on January 6, 2021.
During that ceremony, thousands of Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to overturn then-President Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Lawmakers were forced to evacuate as doors were smashed, police officers were attacked and one protester was shot to death while trying to enter a chamber through a broken window.
The attack took place after Trump held a rally nearby on the Ellipse, a park south of the White House, where he reiterated false claims that the election had been stolen through massive fraud.
Critics roundly condemned the attack as an assault on democracy, and the US Department of Justice has since charged 1,583 participants with federal crimes.
As of Monday, approximately 1,009 have pleaded guilty, with 327 offering guilty pleas to felony charges.
Trump himself faced two criminal indictments for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results: A federal case in Washington, DC, was recently dismissed, while a state-level case in Georgia is stalled but ongoing.
Nevertheless, four years later, Trump is set to return to power on the heels of his most successful presidential campaign to date.
In November, Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’s 226 and became the first Republican candidate to win the popular vote since 2004.
Trump’s Republican Party will also take control of Congress after winning majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Many in the party have since embraced the Republican leader’s false claims about the 2020 election.
“Congress certifies our great election victory today – a big moment in history. MAGA!” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Monday, using an acronym for his slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
Harris, meanwhile, urged respect for the tenets of US democracy. She cited Monday’s peaceful certification as an example of the right way forward.
“I do believe very strongly that America’s democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it,” she said. “Otherwise it is very fragile, and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis.”
