After a day of violence and historic objections, Congress formally certifies Biden's win

The House and Senate reconvened in a joint session and formally certified Biden's win early on Thursday

Published: January 6, 2021 10:26pm

Updated: January 7, 2021 4:45am

Congress early Thursday morning certified that Joe Biden had secured the necessary 270 electors to become America's 46th president later this month, ending a tumultuous process begun by historic GOP objections and marred by a deadly siege of the Capitol by Trump supporters.

More than half of House Republicans and just a few GOP senators voted to object to Biden's wins in Arizona and Pennsylvania before Congress secured the votes to approve the electors around 3:30am.

The Senate rejected the Arizona challenge by a 93-6 vote while the House vote was 303-121, with greater than half of the GOP House conference seeking to reject the state's electoral slate.

The votes came after protesters breached security and swarmed the U.S. Capitol building earlier on Wednesday.

After the Arizona votes, Congress reconvened in a joint session to certify the election results in other states. Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks objected to the Nevada results but did not have a signature from a U.S. senator. 

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry objected to certifying Pennsylvania and had Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley's signature.

Republican lawmakers like Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn Thompson have argued that the state government circumvented the legislature to make last minute changes to election law.

The House and Senate then entered into separate sessions to debate the objection. The Senate rejected the challenge to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes with a 92-7 vote. The House rejected the challenge 138-282.

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