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On Tuesday, the US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged Joe Biden as the president-elect for the first time. The acknowledgment came more than a month after Biden won the 2020 presidential election. McConnell waited until the Electoral College formally voted to elect Biden on Monday, officially finalizing the election results. McConnell made a speech on the Senate floor and said, “Our country has, officially, a president-elect and a vice-president-elect. I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He’s devoted himself to public service for many years”. He also congratulated Senator Kamala Harris on her victory as vice president-elect. McConnell said, “Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female vice president-elect for the very first time”.

On Tuesday, the departing for a campaign event in Georgia, Biden said he had a good conversation with Mitch McConnell today. Point to be noted that President Trump has refused to concede, even as dozens of lawsuits brought by his campaign challenging the outcome have failed, and the Supreme Court has twice declined to hear cases seeking to overturn the election results. The president continues to falsely insist that the election was rigged, promoting unfounded claims of voter fraud. At least 100 Republican members of the House endorsed one of the lawsuits rejected by the Supreme Court that sought to overturn the election results in four states. More congressional Republicans have started acknowledging that Biden will be inaugurated on 20^th January 2021.

The Senate Majority Whip John Thune informed reporters on Monday that it was time to move on. Thune said, “I understand there are people who feel strongly about the outcome of this election. But in the end, at some point, you have to face the music. And I think that once the Electoral College settles the issue today, it’s time for everybody to move on”. It is noteworthy that Biden received 306 electoral votes to 232 for Trump. On Monday, GOP Senator John Cornyn also informed reporters that he believed it would be a bad mistake for Republican lawmakers to attempt to challenge the election outcome when Congress formally counts and certifies the results next year. Cornyn said, “I think there comes a time when you have to realize that, despite your best efforts you’ve been unsuccessful, that’s sort of the nature of these elections. You got to have a winner. You got to have a loser”.