Donald Trump is being declared by Congress the winner of the 2024 presidential election. In a joint session, lawmakers finalized the announcement of a winner as part of the official process.
VP Kamala Harris is opened the sealed envelopes containing the electoral vote certificates in her role as president of the Senate. Those votes were then tallied and announced to the joint session by Harris. She calls this duty a sacred obligation. The Electoral Count Reform act, passed by Congress in 2022 after the January 6th riots, clarifies that the vice president has only a ministerial role, with no power to set aside electoral votes.