The US Congress has formally certified Republican president-elect Donald Trump’s November election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, clearing the way for him to be sworn in on January 20.

The certification of the election results on Monday (local time) in the 50 states and the District of Columbia came in a brief, formal ceremony during a joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate.

It was presided over by Harris, acting in her vice-presidential role as president of the Senate.

The quadrennial ritual stood in sharp contrast to four years ago when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a failed bid to block the certification of then-president Trump’s 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump continues to claim that his 2020 defeat was due to widespread fraud – despite his own attorney-general, recounts and investigations finding no evidence – and had warned throughout his 2024 campaign that he harboured similar concerns until his November 5 defeat of Harris.

“Congress certifies our great election victory today – a big moment in history. MAGA!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday.

The joint session of Congress proceeded even as a winter storm hovered over the US capital, dropping about 15cm of snow and snarling travel.

The final certification backed up preliminary findings that Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’ 226.

Republicans also captured a majority in the US Senate and held a narrow edge in the House in November’s election. That will give Trump the party support he needs to implement his planned agenda of tax cuts and a crackdown on immigrants in the US illegally.

Democrats did not try to block certification of Trump’s victory.

“We must renew our commitment to safeguarding American democracy,” No 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark said earlier on Monday.

“As elected leaders, our loyalty must be to the constitution, first and always. We are here to honour the will of the people and the rule of law.”

Security inside and outside the Capitol was elevated ahead of the certification. It is expected to remain through Trump’s swearing-in.

The Capitol grounds have been ringed by metal fences hundreds of metres from the US Capitol, and are accessible only via checkpoints guarded by uniformed police officers.

Convoys of black police vehicles were on hand, led by a 10-wheel Baltimore police mobile command centre.

New York Police Department reinforcements also patrolled the area.

Inside, extra teams of uniformed US Capitol Police officers checked IDs at entrance sites including doors and tunnels leading to the House and Senate chambers.

Trump has said he plans to pardon some of the more than 1500 people charged with taking part in the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, when a mob fought with police, smashing its way in through windows and doors.

Some chanted “Hang Mike Pence”, referring to Trump’s then-vice president, in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.

In the 2021 melee, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers. Multiple police officers who battled protesters died in the weeks that followed, some by taking their own lives.

As a result of that day’s violence, Congress passed legislation late in 2022 bolstering guardrails to ensure the certification process is administered in a legal manner.

For example, the new law asserts that the vice president’s role is largely ceremonial.

-with AP