US Congress certifies Donald Trump's election victory

The US Congress has formally certified Republican President-elect Donald Trump's November election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, clearing the way for him to be sworn in on 20 January.

The certification of the election results in the 50 states and the District of Columbia was accomplished in a brief, formal ceremony during a joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate.

It was presided over by Ms Harris, acting in her vice-presidential role as president of the Senate.

The quadrennial ritual stood in sharp contrast to four years ago when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to block the certification of then-President Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Mr Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud, and had warned throughout his 2024 campaign that he harbored similar concerns until his 5 November defeat of Ms Harris.

"Congress certifies our great election victory today - a big moment in history. MAGA!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social earlier.

The joint session of Congress proceeded even as a winter storm hovered over the nation's capital, dropping about 15cm of snow and snarling travel.

The final certification backed up preliminary findings that Mr Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Ms Harris's 226.

Republicans also captured a majority in the US Senate and held a narrow edge in the House in November's election, which will give Mr Trump the party support he needs to implement his planned agenda of tax cuts and a crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.

Democrats did not try to block certification of Mr Trump's victory today.

"We must renew our commitment to safeguarding American democracy," No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark said in a statement earlier in the day.

"As elected leaders, our loyalty must be to the Constitution, first and always. We are here to honor the will of the people and the rule of law," she added.

Security inside and outside the Capitol was heightened in preparation for the certification and was expected to remain in place through Mr Trump's swearing-in.

The Capitol grounds were ringed by metal fences hundreds of yards from the US Capitol, and accessible only via checkpoints guarded by uniformed police officers.

Convoys of black police vehicles were on hand, led by a ten-wheel Baltimore police mobile command center. New York Police Department reinforcements were also patrolling the area.

Inside, extra teams of uniformed US Capitol Police officers were checking IDs at entrance sites including doors and underground tunnels leading to the House and Senate chambers.

Mr Trump has said he plans to pardon some of the more than 1,500 people charged with taking part in the 6 January 2021, assault on the Capitol, when a mob fought with police, smashing its way in through windows and doors and chanting, "Hang Mike Pence," referring to Mr Trump's then-vice president, in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Mr Biden's victory.

In the 2021 melee at the Capitol, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers and causing more than $2.8m (€2.7m) in damage.

Multiple police officers who battled protesters died in the weeks that followed, some by suicide.

As a result of that day's violence, Congress passed legislation late in 2022 bolstering guardrails to ensure that the certification process is administered in a legal manner.

Many of these changes were directly in response to Mr Trump's actions leading up to and including 6 January.

For example, the new law asserts that the vice president's role is largely ceremonial.