Vice President Mike Pence defied President Donald Trump early Thursday morning as he affirmed President-elect Joe Biden's November victory, putting an end to Trump's futile efforts to subvert American democracy and overturn the results of the election. BREAKING NEWS: More than 12 hours after pro-Trump mobs violently broke into the U.S. Capitol, Congress confirms the Electoral College vote and President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. pic.twitter.com/f87vIxslqX -- PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) January 7, 2021 In a move that infuriated Trump and left his own political future far less certain, Pence on Wednesday acknowledged that he did not have the power to unilaterally throw out electoral college votes as Trump and some of his attorneys had wrongly insisted. Pence, as the session came to an end, said the count "shall be deemed a sufficient declaration" of Biden's victory, but offered no words of congratulations to the incoming administration. -- Associated Press