narvikk/iStockBy LIBBY CATHEY, CATHERINE THORBECKE, MORGAN WINSOR and ROSA SANCHEZ, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 13 days.
Here is how the scene is unfolding. All times Eastern:
Jan 07, 3:45 am
Pence announces Biden as next president, Trump accepts defeat
Hours after a pro-Trump mob broke into the U.S. Capitol to protest the results of the 2020 election, congressional tellers have ascertained Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won.
The announcement was made by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 3:39 a.m. Thursday.
Vice President Mike Pence then repeated the totals at 3:40 a.m., first for president, then for vice president.
Biden will take President Donald Trump’s place in the White House on Jan. 20.
Rep. Louie Gohmert and other House Republicans attempted to object to Wisconsin but did not have a senator join the objection. Gohmert said a senator withdrew his objection.
Biden and Harris finished with 306 electoral votes, while Trump and Pence finished with 232.
In a statement tweeted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino following the news, Trump said: “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th. I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again!”
This is the first time Trump has publicly accepted Biden’s victory and agreed to a peaceful transfer of power.
Jan 07, 3:24 am
House also rejects challenge to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes
After two hours of heated debate, the House of Representatives rejected the Republican objections to certify Pennsylvania’s Electoral College ballots early Thursday.
There were 138 House Republicans who voted to sustain the objection, while 64 voted against it and 218 Democrats also voted against it.
No House Democrats voted in favor of the objection, while a majority of House Republicans (68%) did.
The GOP effort to overturn the will of Pennsylvania voters failed in the Senate just a few hours earlier, after the upper chamber completely bypassed debate and went straight to a vote.
With no further objections anticipated, Congress is expected certify Pennsylvania’s Electoral College ballots. Congress will then continue counting electoral votes from the rest of the states.
Jan 07, 3:00 am
Heated confrontation between House members amid debate over Pennsylvania electoral vote count
A brief but tense confrontation unfolded on the floor of the House of Representatives early Thursday morning, with some members appearing ready to come to blows while debating challenges put forth by Republican lawmakers seeking to reverse Biden’s win.
Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., used his five minutes to give an impassioned speech during the debate over the Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania.
“These objections don’t deserve an ounce of respect. Not an ounce,” Lamb said, aiming his comments towards the Republicans in the room. “A woman died out there tonight, and you’re making these objections!”
“That attack today, it didn’t materialize out of nowhere. It was inspired by lies,” he continued. “The members who are repeating those lies should be ashamed of themselves. Their constituents should be ashamed of them.”
Rep. Morgan Griffiths, R-Va., then jumped in, attempting to make a point of order and asking for some of Lamb’s words to be stricken from the record.
“The gentleman said there were lies on this floor today, looking over this direction. I ask that those words be taken down,” Griffiths said to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi regarding Lamb’s speech.
Pelosi dismissed Griffiths because he spoke out of turn. Lamb then told Republicans: “The truth hurts.”
As Pelosi banged her gavel, attempting to get the lower chamber in order, several members ran toward the back of the room. Sources, as well as reporters who were in the room, told ABC News that House Republicans and Democrats appeared to be confronting each other in the aisle, and a shouting match ensued about who should sit down.
Reps. Andy Harris, R-Md., and Colin Allred, D-Texas, appeared to be on the verge of a fist fight, sources told ABC News. There was shouting, but no punches were thrown.
The heated moment passed just as quickly as it began, and the debate resumed.
The House is expected to vote soon on the Republican objections to certify Pennsylvania’s Electoral College ballots. Just hours earlier, the Senate voted 92-7 against the measure.
Jan 07, 12:50 am
Senate rejects objections to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes
The Republican effort to overturn the will of Pennsylvania voters failed in the Senate early Thursday morning by a vote of 7-92.
The upper chamber had completely bypassed debate and went straight to a vote.
After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he does not expect any additional challenges to the Electoral College results.
The Senate now stands ready to return to a joint session of Congress, as the Pennsylvania objection goes to the House of Representatives for a vote. Both chambers of Congress must vote in favor of the challenge for it to succeed.
Jan 07, 12:45 am
Objection made for Pennsylvania, House and Senate to vote
As certification of the vote continues in Congress, an objection was made to electors from the state of Pennsylvania, which was supported by both a Republican representative and a senator, forcing a vote.
GOP Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania objected to the state’s electoral count, and said he was joined by 80 of his Republican colleagues.
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley objected for the Senate.
The Joint Session of Congress is now on hold, so that the respective chambers can split up for two hours of debate. In the Senate, they chose to skip debate and immediately moved to vote.
When both do vote, the objection is expected to fail, as the one over Arizona’s electors did previously.
Earlier, GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama attempted to object to the electoral college votes from Nevada, but because no senators joined him, the objection was not sustained.
“Unfortunately, no United States senator has joined in this effort,” Brooks said.
Jan 07, 12:12 am
Objection to Georgia, Michigan electoral votes fail after no senator signs on
GOP Rep. Jody Hice of Georgia objected to the Georgia electoral votes but said he does not have a senator that will sign on because of the events of Wednesday.
Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler reversed course and said she would not object after the riot activity on the Hill.
After Hice announced senators had withdrawn their objection, there were cheers from the Democratic side.
Additionally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and 70 Republicans are objecting to Michigan, but no senator signed on to support the objection.
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