WASHINGTON - Congress certified Friday that Donald Trump won the November election to become the 45th president of the United States, as lawmakers counted and affirmed the votes from the Electoral College.

"Donald Trump of New York has received, for president, 304 votes," while his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton received 227 votes, Vice President Joe Biden declared to assembled lawmakers after the counting was complete.

The count is normally a rubber-stamp event weeks after the electors formally cast their votes. But it was not without drama, as at least three protesters interrupted Biden's tally announcements. They were swiftly removed from the chamber. While Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20, garnered more than the 270 electoral votes required to win, Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots. The election has been shadowed by concerns over Russian attempts to influence the result in Trump's favor.  Trump, who has repeatedly downplayed possible Russian interference, was due to receive a US intelligence report on the situation later on Friday. He told the New York Times on Friday that the focus on the issue was a "political witch hunt." US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas plans to file an objection to electoral votes submitted from her state, a spokesman confirmed. Politico reported possible challenges also might come from fellow Democrats Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, Bobby Scott of Virginia, John Conyers of Michigan and Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

A member of Congress needs at least one US senator to back the objection and suspend the joint session while the House of Representatives and Senate meet separately to debate it.

House Democratic leaders said they knew of no senator lined up behind such an effort.

However, US Representative Steny Hoyer said on CNN he expected a number of Democrats to raise the issue of Russian hacking of Democratic groups during the presidential campaign and question whether there was legitimate information available to the electors when they voted for Donald Trump.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the Russian hacking concerns cast a pall over the 2016 vote.

"That's why people have some level of dismay today on the vote ... about the Electoral College," Pelosi said at a news conference. "How much is known about the foreign disruption of our election?"

Members of the Electoral College convened last month in the 50 state capitals to cast their votes for president and vice president and to submit them to Congress.