Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will resign her Senate seat on Monday – two days before she and President-elect Joe Biden are sworn in on Inauguration Day.
Harris’ stepping down will allow California Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint Alex Padilla, a Democrat who serves as secretary of state, to fill the final two years of her vacated position.
“She’s notified Governor Newsom, and has sent her formal indication that she will be resigning. And then she will make a formal announcement on Monday,” said a Harris aide, The Hill reported on Sunday.
Padilla will become the first Latino senator from the Golden State.
Harris will not give a farewell speech on the Senate floor because the chamber is not expected to convene until Tuesday.
As vice president, Harris will be poised to cast any tie-breaking votes in the Senate that will be split 50-50 after Democrats Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock are seated in the chamber.
They defeated incumbent GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in a highly contested Senate runoff election in Georgia earlier this month.
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