Photo: Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia were sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, prompting the Democrats to officially retake control of the Upper House . This will make it easier for President Joe Biden to push his legislative agenda.
The new senators were sworn in before Vice President Kamala Harris, one of the first acts Californian officials since herself and President Biden celebrated his inauguration . Harris, who had already resigned as a senator, also swore in his replacement: Democrat Alex Padilla. Padilla thus became the first Latino senator from California, a state in which 40% of the population is of Latino origin.
The change of power in the Senate makes Biden’s party regain the majority it lost in 2014. It is also the first time in a decade that Democrats hold power in both houses of Congress and the White House . The last time was in 2011, under the presidency of Barack Obama.
With the two new Democratic incorporations, the chamber remains with 50 Senators of this party and other 50 of the Republican Party . This tie gives the Democrats a majority because Vice President Harris, in her role as Speaker of the Senate, will be the tiebreaker vote.
Ossoff, who beat Republican David Sorry, he was sworn in with a book of Hebrew scriptures. His office says the book was owned by Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, a civil rights leader who ran Atlanta’s oldest and most prominent Jewish synagogue, The Temple. At 33 years, Ossoff is the youngest senator .
Warnock, who toppled Republican Kelly Loeffler, also made history by becoming the first Black senator representing Georgia and the 11th black senator in United States history.
