Senate chaplain in prayer: ‘We respect the conclusions of the Electoral College’

Senate Chaplain Barry Black noted President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win during his opening prayer on Tuesday.

“Lord, we respect the conclusions of the Electoral College and ask you to bless President-elect Joseph Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” he said, one day after electors certified Biden’s victory.

Several Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), recognized Biden and Harris as the incoming president and vice president for the first time after Monday’s Electoral College vote, after initially hesitating to do so amid President Trump’s challenges.

Shortly after Black’s prayer, McConnell congratulated Biden and Harris. 

“The Electoral College has spoken, so today 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,” McConnell said.

The Senate majority leader noted that “many of us hoped that the presidential election would yield a different result, but our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on Jan. 20.”

Other top Republican senators acknowledged Biden’s victory following the Electoral College vote, including Sens. John Thune (S.D.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and Rob Portman (Ohio). 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) have yet to label Biden as the president-elect.

Biden has been widely acknowledged as the president-elect since Nov. 7, when he was projected to win Pennsylvania, but Trump has refused to concede. The president and his campaign have waged multiple legal battles alleging widespread voter fraud without evidence, with courts rejecting a great majority of those lawsuits.