Democrats swore in three new senators on Wednesday, officially handing the party the Senate majority for the first time since losing the chamber in the 2014 elections.
Newly minted Vice President Kamala Harris swore in Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff (D) and Raphael Warnock (D), who defeated Sens. David Perdue (R.) and Kelly Loeffler (R.) in Georgia’s runoff elections on Jan. 5.
Harris also swore in her successor as California senator, former California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who will hold the seat through the scheduled end of Harris’s term in 2022.
Swearing in the three senators, in addition to Harris’s own swearing-in earlier Wednesday at the Capitol, officially gives Democrats control of the Senate.
The Senate is now split 50-50, but because Harris in her capacity as vice president is also president of the Senate, it allows her to break any ties and officially tips control of the chamber in Democrats’ favor.
thehill.com/homenews/senate/535108-democrats-swear-in-three-senators-to-gain-majority