WASHINGTON, DC—Congress on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) certified US President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory, a formality that was remarkable for its contrast to four years ago, when the Republican summoned a mob to Washington that ransacked the US Capitol.
The president-elect spent much of his campaign facing prosecution over the 2021 insurrection, when his supporters — fueled by his false claims of voter fraud — rioted to halt the certification of his defeat to Joe Biden.
But Trump, 78, was voted back into office in November and Monday’s ceremony went much more smoothly, even with a major winter storm blanketing the capital and much of the country in snow.
“Donald J Trump of the state of Florida, has received 312 votes. Kamala D Harris of the state of California has received 226 votes,” Harris herself declared to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete.
The certification coincided with reports from New York Judge Juan Merchan rejected Trump’s request to delay sentencing set for later this week in his hush money case.
Merchan ruled last week that Trump’s sentencing should go ahead on Friday despite his upcoming inauguration, rejecting his attorney’s argument that his election victory should spell an end to the case.
Merchan, in a two-page decision, noted that prosecutors had opposed delaying the sentencing and said it should go ahead as planned barring a last-minute successful appeal by Trump to a higher court.
Harris — who oversaw the certification as part of her vice-presidential duties — said the official count “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration” for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance to take their oaths of office on Jan. 20.
