Washington — Vice President Mike Pence announced just after 3:40 a.m. Thursday that President-elect Joe Biden won the presidency, after Congress completed the counting of the Electoral College votes. The affirmation came hours after an assault by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to halt the process.
President Trump has now acknowledged his election loss for the first time, saying in a statement released early Thursday by his social media director that even though he disagrees with the election outcome, “there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”
On Wednesday, the president encouraged his supporters to “walk over” to the Capitol as Congress counted the Electoral College votes, the largely ceremonial final step in affirming Mr. Biden’s victory. Although Mr. Trump insisted Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to overturn the election results, Pence defied Mr. Trump on Wednesday and issued a lengthy statement saying he could not change the outcome.
Chaos erupted at the Capitol a few hours later as an angry mob of rioters — many waving Trump flags or carrying Trump gear — breached the building.
Four people died during the assault. Authorities said one woman was shot and killed by police and three people died from medical emergencies.
The violence sent members of Congress fleeing from the floor, and Congress recessed for nearly six hours.
Mr. Biden on Wednesday denounced the violence and called on Mr. Trump to address the nation. Mr. Trump then posted a one-minute video to Twitter, telling the rioters they are “special” but they “need to go home now.”
Congress reconvened nearly six hours after leaving the floor, taking up where it had left off in hearing the objection from Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Paul Gosar to Arizona’s electoral results. The Senate rejected the objection 93-6, and the House rejected it 303-121.
Despite calls from more than a dozen senators who said they would support objections to electoral results in key states, no senators signed onto House members’ objections to the results in Michigan and Nevada.
But Senator Josh Hawley followed through on his promise to object to Pennsylvania’s results. The Senate rejected it 92-7, leaving the House to debate it for two hours before it was rejected after 3 a.m.
Since none of the objections had a majority, they had no chance of succeeding. Even if there was a majority on any of the objections, it would not have changed the outcome of the election. Mr. Biden will be sworn in on January 20.
