WASHINGTON – Democrats formally gained control of the Senate on Wednesday after three new senators took office, giving the party the White House and Congress for the first time in more than a decade.
Georgia’s runoff winners, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, officially became senators, replacing the two Republicans they defeated. And Alex Padilla, of California, was sworn in after being appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to take the vacant seat of Vice President Kamala Harris, who swore an oath on all three.
All three represent the first records. Warnock is the first black Democratic senator to represent a southern state. Ossoff, 33, is the first millennial elected to the Chamber. And Padilla is the first Latin senator from the diversified Golden State.
Their addition led the Senate to a 50-50 split between the two parties, allowing Harris to recognize New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer as the “majority leader” for the first time.
The move ends Senator Mitch McConnell’s reign as majority leader after six years. The Kentucky Republican, who was re-elected for a seventh term in November, becomes the leader of the minority.
Harris then took over from Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., As president pro tempore of the Senate, a position held by the oldest member of the controlling party of the chamber and who is the third in line to succeed the presidency.
It was also a historic event for Schumer to become the first leader of the Jewish Senate majority.
“That I am the leader of the new majority in the Senate is an incredible responsibility,” he said. “Today, I feel the full weight of that responsibility. A sense of awe, of admiration, of the trust placed in me.”
