Democrats to take Senate majority when Warnock, Ossoff and Padilla are sworn in

Democrats are expected to take control of the Senate on Wednesday when three new party members are sworn in.

Democratic senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia and nominee candidate Alex Padilla of California are expected to take office in the afternoon, bringing the Senate split to 50-50. Newly inaugurated Vice President Kamala Harris, who will hold the deciding vote in the chamber, is expected to swear in all three senators.

The slim Democratic majority will give President Joe Biden a boost as he tries to fill his cabinet and push through a program called a coronavirus relief package. Although the new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats decide what the Senate pursues, they will face the challenge of finding Republicans’ support to pass most laws.

Warnock, 51, and Ossoff, 33, won a special election last month that determined control of the chamber. They will become Georgia’s first black and Jewish senators, respectively.

Padilla, 47, was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to take Harris’ seat in the Senate when she stepped down to become vice president. He becomes California’s first Latino senator.

Ossoff posted photos of Georgian senators elected during presidential inauguration ceremonies on Wednesday. He wrote with them: “The change has come to Georgia. The change is coming to America.”

Schumer, DN.Y., and future Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Are due to reach agreement on how to conduct Senate business in the coming weeks. They will need a power-sharing agreement to decide how many members each party has on committees and how those groups resolve ties.

McConnell’s office said that, as part of a deal, it wanted to ensure the Senate preserves filibuster. Some Democrats have called for getting rid of the tool allowing bills to be passed by simple majority vote.

The Senate must also put in place a structure for an impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. The House accused him of instigating an insurgency on the U.S. Capitol on Jan.6, but has yet to send the impeachment article to the Senate.

Biden hopes the Senate can devote some of its time to the impeachment trial while confirming the executive nominees.

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