After a day of unrest in the nation’s capital, Congress has certified Joe Biden as the next president and Kamala Harris as the next vice president of the United States. The two Democrats will officially take office on January 20, 2021, at noon ET.
Early Thursday morning, the Senate and House voted to reject Trump loyalists’ challenges to Biden’s 2020 presidential victory. Republican Vice President Mike Pence affirmed the former Vice President’s 306-232 Electoral College win.
Republican lawmakers objected to the election results in Arizona where Biden won 11 Electoral College votes and in Pennsylvania where Biden picked up the state’s 20 EC votes. Both attempts to overthrow those elections failed even though over 100 Republicans did vote to disenfranchise millions of American voters based on false conspiracy theories.
This development followed pro-Donald Trump insurrectionists storming into the U.S. Capitol building in Washington on Wednesday afternoon. According to reports, four people died as a result of the rioters’ failed coup attempt.
Historians have noted that this is the first time the U.S. Capitol had been overrun since the British military burned the building in 1814 during the War of 1812. The U.S. Capitol Police is facing serious scrutiny for not being prepared to handle the crowd of radical Trump supporters.
The Washington, DC police department also said they discovered two pipe bombs in the city – one was placed outside the Democratic National Committee and the other outside the Republican National Committee. At least 52 people have been arrested, according to law enforcement.