Following a day that saw an unprecedented incursion into the U.S. Capitol, members of Congress worked late into the night to count and certify the results of the U.S. presidential election. The Senate and House reconvened after 8 p.m. once police had secured the building with the help of the National Guard. “Criminal behavior will never dominate the United States Congress,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told the Senate. “This institution is resilient.”

President Donald Trump pressured Republicans to delay or oppose Wednesday’s certification of the Electoral College results, and some GOP lawmakers said they would. Vice President Mike Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, is slated to officially announce Joe Biden as the winner, but Trump on Tuesday said he hoped Pence would not do so.

Political heavy-hitters headed to Georgia the day before Tuesday’s runoff elections. President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and President-elect Joe Biden all appeared on behalf of their parties’ candidates, whose races will determine control of the U.S. Senate. Republicans have 50 seats in the Senate and will retain the majority if they win one of the two Georgia seats up for grabs.

Earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Americans could start receiving coronavirus relief checks from the government as soon as next week. Days later, the bill to approve the payments unexpectedly remained in limbo after Republicans on Thursday threw cold water on the president’s request to up the amount from $600 to $2,000 per person.

The global ministry started by apologist Ravi Zacharias said on Wednesday that the claims of inappropriate sexual behavior against its late founder appear to be true. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries hired an Atlanta law firm to look into the accusations that surfaced in news reports, including in WORLD, in the fall.

Members of the House will have to report back to work the Monday after Christmas for a planned vote to override the president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. President Donald Trump blocked the bill on Wednesday because it did not include a measure he requested to strip social media companies of liability protections. He also said the law failed to “respect our veterans and our military’s history”—likely a reference to plans to rename military bases that honor Confederate leaders—and would undermine his foreign policy.

Laws that would safeguard the unborn from being dismembered in the womb or aborted because of their sex cannot take effect as planned, a federal judge ruled this week. The Arkansas legislature passed the laws in 2017, and they took effect just hours before U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a two-week injunction against their enforcement on Tuesday.