WASHINGTON _ For Donald Trump, all that's left is the Oath of Office _ and, likely, many tweets.
House Democrats' efforts to challenge the electoral process failed Friday when no senators joined their objections as Congress certified Trump's Electoral College victory.
The counting of the votes during a joint session, mandated by the Constitution, was the final hurdle Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence had to clear. Several House Democrats rose to voice objections to specific state results, but were unable to secure backing that would have erected a late obstacle.
Opponents cited voter suppression as a reason the results not be made legitimate.
Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States in 14 days. He secured 304 Electoral votes, while Hillary Clinton mustered only 227.
"It is over," said Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., after a failed objection by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., to awarding Georgia's 16 electoral votes for Trump. House and Senate Republicans clustered on the left side of the chamber roared their approval, stood and applauded.
Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee rose to object several times, and it appeared Republicans in control the chamber at times turned off her microphone.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who had said she would not encourage her members to object but would support such moves, pumped her fists to encourage some of her dissenting colleagues.
The GOP side was mostly full with members chatting and sharing laughs. Across the aisle, there were many empty seats _ and the Democrats who did show up largely sat quietly with somber faces. Pages and staff occupied an entire Democratic section. Roll Call counted only seven Senate Democrats inside the chamber.
Biden loudly pounded his gavel and shouted over several objecting House Democrats, who answered by shouting the remainder of their objections. Each time, however, their pleas were shut down by the vice president and, a few times, booing Republican lawmakers.
Biden made a Trump-Pence victory official when he declared the "announcement of the state of the vote by the president of the Senate shall be deemed sufficient declaration."
Following the session, House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters that had Russia intervened in the election by hacking computers on behalf of Clinton, the chamber's galleries would have been packed with angry Trump supporters.
Several protesters representing Democracy Spring, including two African-Americans, stood in the public gallery and yelled their objections before they were escorted out.
As members lingered and made their way out, Biden joined a group of House Democratic women who had voiced objections. The small group hugged, then the vice president posed for a picture with them.
The joint session began when Senate pages carried wooden boxes with the Electoral College votes toward the House. They were followed by Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who walked side by side. Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the official vote counters, followed behind them.
Senators, most Republican, then marched across the Capitol to the House side. Before entering the House chamber, Biden and McConnell were deep in conversation. At one point, the outgoing vice president _ a former senator _ put his arm behind McConnell and gave the back of his neck a tight squeeze.
The occasion provided a last moment of pomp and recognition for Biden, who has been a senator or vice president since 1973. He will become a private citizen on Jan. 20 for the first time in 44 years. Biden was greeted with a standing ovation.
Any chance for major drama evaporated a day earlier when Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado dropped his threat to try to lodge a formal challenge citing what the American intelligence community has concluded was Russian government-backed hacking intended to influence the U.S. election.
"This action by a foreign nation was unprecedented, violated our Constitution and undermined the founding pillars of American liberty and democracy," Perlmutter said in a statement, according to The Denver Post. "This is not about trying to stop Donald Trump from becoming president. This is about the fact that our liberty, freedom and democracy were compromised by Russia's intrusion into America's election."
According to Article II of the Constitution, any objections to the states' electoral vote tallies must be signed by at least one senator and one representative.
