US Congress affirms Biden's Electoral College victory
The counting of Vermont's three electoral votes put Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris over the 270-threshold needed to win the presidency
The US Congress has just affirmed President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump.
Democrat Joe Biden was cleared to be sworn in as US president on January 20 when Vice President Mike Pence declared that Congress had confirmed the Electoral College tally of states' results that showed Biden the winner of the November 3 contest against incumbent President Donald Trump.
The counting of Vermont's three electoral votes put Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris over the 270-threshold needed to win the presidency, CNN reports.
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The Senate and House rejected objections to throw out Georgia and Pennsylvania's electoral votes for Biden. Republicans also objected to Arizona, Nevada and Michigan's electoral votes, but the motions failed before they reached debate.
The certification comes after Pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol earlier Wednesday.
The joint session of Congress, which is normally a ceremonial step, was halted for several hours when rioters breached the Capitol.
Proceedings resumed at about 8 pm ET with Vice President Mike Pence, bringing the Senate session back into order.
"Let's get back to work," Pence said.
Congress has reconvened in a joint session to continue to count electoral votes after the Senate and House rejected objections to throw out Pennsylvania's votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
Four lawmakers designated as "tellers" — two from the House and two from the Senate — will continue to read the certificates of vote from each state. There are 12 states to go.
The votes are read in alphabetical order.
