Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will resign her Senate seat on Monday – two days before she and President-elect Joe Biden take office on the day of their inauguration.
Harris’ resignation will allow California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint Alex Padilla, a Democrat who serves as Secretary of State, to fill the final two years of his vacant position.
“She notified Governor Newsom, and sent her formal indication that she will resign. And then she will make a formal announcement on Monday, ”said a Harris aide, The Hill reported on Sunday.
Padilla will become the first Latin senator for the Golden State.
Harris will not deliver a farewell speech to the Senate floor because the chamber is not due to meet until Tuesday.
As vice president, Harris will be positioned to cast any tiebreaker votes in the Senate, which will be split 50-50 after Democrats Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock are seated in the chamber.
They defeated the current governor GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in a highly contested runoff election for the Senate in Georgia earlier this month.