BREAKING: Donald Trump officially certified as president

Congress certified the election of President-elect Donald Trump on Monday. The electoral votes were reviewed by lawmakers in order to ensure their authenticity.   

The process began at around 1 pm on Monday, where Trump officially received 312 electoral votes along with his running mate, JD Vance. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, on the other hand, were only able to win 226 electoral votes.  

The states went through their electoral votes in alphabetical order, starting with Alabama, and in a somewhat ironic display, the process was conducted by Vice President Harris after her loss to Trump. 

"This announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected, President and Vice President, of the United States, each for a term beginning on the 20th day of January 2025 and shall be entered together with the list of the votes on the journals of the House and the Senate," Harris announced at the end of the certification. 

Each time a state was certified, a lawmaker would say that the certificate votes "seem to be regular in form and authentic" and would then announce the amount of each vote.  

Ahead of the certification, there was an uncommon heavy snowstorm for the Washington DC area, which resulted in House Speaker Mike Johnson telling lawmakers that they would be staying in the area over the weekend. Johnson said over the weekend, "We’ve got a big snowstorm coming to DC and we encourage all of our colleagues: do not leave town. So whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done."