The U.S. Electoral College has formally confirmed that Joe Biden will be the nation’s next president, giving him a solid electoral majority of 306 votes to affirm his victory in last month’s election. The state-by-state voting took on added impetus this year because of Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he had lost, Mark Sherman reports. Heightened security was in place in some states as electors met under various threats. The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a Jan. 6 joint session of Congress. For all the defeated Republican president’s objections, there was little suspense and no change among all the electoral votes allocated to Biden and Trump in last month’s popular vote. President-elect Biden pointedly criticized Trump for threatening core principles of democracy even as he told Americans that their form of self-government ultimately “prevailed,” Aamer Madhani and Will Weissert report. Biden was blunt in critiquing the damage done by Trump’s baseless allegations that the contest was stolen. Such arguments have been roundly rejected by judges across the political spectrum, including the justices at the Supreme Court. Biden said democracy has been “pushed, tested, threatened.” Biden and his team now hope the formal victory in the Electoral College will help the country unify and accept his presidency. Democratic Institutions: America’s democratic institutions, facing unprecedented strain from Trump as he fights to hold power despite losing, have so far withstood the barrage and are holding firm. Electors in all 50 states backed the will of their voters to confirm Biden’s victory. But Trump has vowed not to stop, putting pressure on congressional Republicans who have to give final approval to the election on Jan. 6, Julie Pace, Thomas Beaumont and Brian Slodysko report. Republicans: For the first time, a groundswell of leading Republicans finally say Biden is the winner of the presidential election. They announced their views after the Electoral College vote affirmed Biden won. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was notably silent. But a number of senators said the time has come to move on. They’re essentially abandoning Trump’s assault on the outcome, Lisa Mascaro reports. Barr Departure: Attorney General William Barr, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, is departing amid tensions over his boss’ baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into Biden’s son. Barr will leave before Christmas and submitted his letter of resignation. Trump has publicly expressed his anger about Barr’s statement to the AP earlier this month that the Justice Department had found no widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the election, Michael Balsamo reports. Putin’s Congrats: Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Biden on winning the presidential election after weeks of holding out. He is one of the last world leaders to congratulate Biden. The Kremlin maintained Putin was holding off on doing so until the election results were officially confirmed.