Hold tight, people. Keep your hand on the plow. Don’t panic.

Republicans elected and appointed officials are behaving terribly. It is democratically corrosive. It is very bad. But here is what’s going to happen.

(1) States are going to finish counting their votes.

(2) Litigation challenges to their efforts to do so are going to fail.

(3) States will certify their results within the safe harbor deadline—making them dispositive for congressional purposes.

(4) Electors, having been elected, will vote and send their votes to Congress.

(5) Congress will count the votes, entitling Joe Biden to become president.

(6) Biden will take the oath of office.

A lot of bad and scary things will happen along the way, but don’t lose sight of that trajectory.

There is a certain automaticity to the process once the votes are cast. Let that automaticity play itself out. The president actually has no control over the process from here.