(VOVworld)- The US Congress certified Friday that Donald Trump won the November election to become the nation's 45th president, as lawmakers counted and affirmed the votes by the Electoral College.

US Vice President Joseph Biden (C) presides over the counting of the electoral votes from the 2016 presidential election during a joint session of Congress, on January 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images/AFP

"Donald Trump of New York has received, for president of the United States, 304 votes," while his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton received 227 votes, Vice President Joe Biden declared to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete. Biden said the official count "shall be deemed sufficient declaration" for Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence to take their oaths of office on January 20.

President-elect Trump is expected to have a busy schedule after his swearing in ceremony. Major issues that he will work on include the Obamacare program, law enforcement decisions, Russia’s alleged interventions in the US Presidential election, and approval of new personnel.  

In another development, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has issued a blanket mandate requiring politically appointed ambassadors installed by President Barack Obama to leave their posts by Inauguration Day, the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand said on Friday. A senior Trump transition official told the newspaper there was no ill will in the move, describing it as a simple matter of ensuring Obama's overseas envoys leave the government on schedule,