The inauguration of the three new senators will be innovative. Warnock and Ossoff will be the first black and Jewish senators, respectively, representing Georgia, while Padilla will be California’s first Latin senator.
Ossoff, 33, will also be the youngest senator in the chamber, and the youngest Democrat to serve in the Senate since President-elect Joe Biden, who took office at the age of 30 in 1973.
After Warnock, Ossoff and Padilla take office, the party’s Senate split will be 50-50. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer will become the first New Yorker and the first Jewish legislator to become the majority leader in the Senate.
Harris will exercise power as the deciding vote in the Senate, helping the Biden administration confirm its nominations and giving Democrats the arms of the committees charged with holding oversight hearings and drafting far-reaching legislation.