JD Vance Is All Smiles As Kamala Harris Swears in New Senators

Sarah Arnold | January 03, 2025 7:30 PM

Outgoing Kamala Harris appeared out of nowhere after being MIA weeks after failing to secure the presidential bit to swear in new Republican senators. The scene left incoming Vice President JD Vance all smiles. Despite the political upheaval surrounding her loss, Harris was forced to show face once more to fulfill her constitutional duty to oversee the swearing-in ceremony, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution for new members of the Senate. The event was marked by a mix of political transition and ceremonial decorum, even as her own political future remains uncertain following the election results. While the moment was largely procedural, it highlighted the shifting dynamics in Washington, with new Republican senators set to take their seats at a pivotal time in the nation's governance.

Republicans secured a 53-47 vote in the Senate majority during the November elections, flipping four seats to eliminate Democrats’ narrow 51-49 control of the chamber.

Many of the Republicans Harris swore in on Friday struggled to pronounce her name, as reported by Time Magazine.

When Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol on Friday to swear-in the new class of Senators, many of the smiling politicians handing her their family Bibles will be the same ones who for months have been telling crowds that she was a threat to the American way of life. At campaign rallies, on social media, and in interviews, some spent months falsely claiming she wanted to ban Christmas from the calendar, bring dog meat to immigrants’ stoves, or rig the election by inviting undocumented immigrants to flood polling places and cast illegal ballots.
It’s an inelegant reality that every Vice President faces in their role as the President of the Senate, one that is particularly raw for those like Harris, Al Gore, and Richard Nixon who lost their presidential bids but still had to return for a final few weeks of a grind at the Capitol. Former Senators all, they understood that the norms of the Upper Chamber could not be set aside to save their bruised ego, nor would these institutionalists ask to be spared. Standing there with folks who trashed them is just part of the gig. Or at least that’s what they have to tell themselves.