Friday afternoon during a joint session of Congress, the electoral votes for president and vice president of the United States were certified.
Despite numerous objections launched by House Democrats and three protesters who had to be removed from the gallery of the House Chamber, the vote certification went pretty much as expected. Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States and Mike Pence will be the 48th Vice President of the United States, beginning Friday, Jan. 20.
House Democrats’ objections were quickly rejected by Vice President Joe Biden, who as president of the Senate, presided over the joint session. Noting the federal law prohibits debate, he eventually resorted to turning off his fellow Democrats’ microphones when they refused to stop speaking.
Biden also noted that all objections had to be in writing and signed by both a member of the House and a member of the Senate, as required by 3 U.S. Code § 15, which states, in part:
Every objection shall be made in writing, and shall state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof, and shall be signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received.
The Democrat’s objections were all in writing, and had House members’ signatures, but no senators joined in the effort to delay the inevitable. Biden, who was growing increasingly frustrated with the House members’ antics, eventually summed up the situation with a two-word response to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee:
“It’s over!” {eoa}
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