Congress confirms Biden’s Electoral College win

Washington D.C. (NewsNationNow) (01/07/21)— Congress confirmed Joe Biden’s Electoral College win early Thursday morning after an overnight joint session delayed by violent protesters that breached the Capitol Wednesday afternoon.

The joint session ended at 3:41 a.m. with the congressional confirmation. A small group of House lawmakers came close to physically fighting as the vote stretched into the early morning hours.

Congress first began the joint session at 1 p.m. EST to count and confirm the Electoral College vote won by Biden, while thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump rallied near the White House before some demonstrators became violent and breached the Capitol building.

The Senate recessed its debate over an objection to the results of the Electoral College after protesters forced police to lock down the building. Lawmakers were forced to hide in a secure location as officers worked to clear the Capitol Complex. The scene was declared a riot by police, and a curfew for DC is in effect until 6 a.m.

Biden addressed Americans from Delaware Wednesday, condemning the violence and asking Trump to go on national television to “fulfill his oath and defend the constitution and demand an end to this siege.”

Biden called the siege on the U.S. Capitol “an assault on the most sacred of American undertakings: the doing of the people’s business.”

Trump’s Republican allies in the House and Senate planned to object to the election results, which the president continues to challenge. However multiple Republican senators reversed course in light of the violent protests and did not object to congressional certification.

Sens. Steve Daines of Montana, Mike Braun of Indiana and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia all said in light of the violence they would stand down from planned objections to Biden’s win.

Among those who still objected included Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley and Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

There was no widespread fraud in the election, as has been confirmed by a range of election officials and by William Barr, who stepped down as attorney general last month.

The joint session was the last official chance for objections, beyond court cases that have so far proven ineffective for Trump and his team.