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On Thursday morning (local time), Congress finally confirmed the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election.
The incumbent US Vice President Mike Pence announced the official final result in a joint meeting of both chambers of congress.
The elected US President Donald Trump then held out the prospect of a proper change of power.
"There will be an orderly transition," he announced.
Trump's acceptance was tweeted by his social media director Dan Scavino, because Trump's Twitter account is blocked.
Previously, Congress had to suspend its deliberations for several hours because angry supporters of the elected US President Trump had penetrated the Capitol.
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The formal post-election procedure in the USA stipulates that the results from the individual states are certified in Congress.
Only then is it official who has won the election.
It is the end of a long formal act before a new president is sworn in.
Usually this is a quick formal procedure.
This year, however, it marks the dramatic end of an unprecedented campaign by incumbent Trump against the election result.
The Republican had lost the election in early November by a clear margin to his Democratic challenger Biden.
Trump refuses to admit defeat.
Trump claims he was robbed of victory by massive election fraud.
However, neither he nor his lawyers provided any solid evidence.
Dozens of lawsuits from the Trump camp have so far been thrown out of courts, including the US Supreme Court.
36 votes more than required
The state electors have confirmed Biden's clear victory.
The Democrat got 306 of the 538 votes - 36 more than required.
232 electorates voted for Trump.
These figures have now been formally confirmed in Congress.
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For weeks, Trump had presented this day of the congressional session - without any basis - as the last chance to overturn the election result.
Driven by his allegations of fraud, Republicans appealed the election results from the states of Arizona and Pennsylvania, forcing the House of Representatives and the Senate to withdraw to separate sessions on both occasions to debate the objections.
However, the action had no prospect of success from the start.
The Congress Chambers rejected both appeals.
Originally, Trump-loyal Republicans had also wanted to challenge the results from other states.
In view of the serious riot at the Capitol, however, several senators withdrew their support for the disruptive action, which was very controversial within the party.
Thousands of Trump supporters poured into the US capital on Wednesday to protest against the certification of the election result.
After a heated speech by the elected president, Trump supporters marched outside the Capitol to protest the certification of the presidential election results.
Rioters stormed the congress building.
The two chambers of congress had to abruptly interrupt their sessions, parliament halls were cleared, and MPs and senators were brought to safety.
Only after several hours did the security forces bring the situation back under control, whereupon Congress demonstratively resumed its work.
Biden is due to be sworn in on January 20th.