Pledging to tackle the reasonably priced housing disaster and produce down well being care prices, Adam Schiff was sworn in Monday by Vice President Kamala Harris as California’s junior U.S. senator.
The Burbank Democrat will serve out the remaining time period of the late Dianne Feinstein after successful a particular election for the unexpired time period. In January, Schiff’s full six-year tenure will start.
In an announcement after taking the oath of workplace on the Senate ground, Schiff didn’t title President-elect Donald Trump, however the brand new senator is in the identical political balancing act as Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has pledged an “open hand, not a closed fist” method to the incoming administration.
- Schiff, within the assertion: “I will work with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to help our state and our families succeed. At the same time, I will not shrink from my duty to defend our democracy and will vigorously protect the rights and freedoms of the American people and the people of California.”
Schiff, who served 23 years within the Homerose to nationwide prominence as one in all Trump’s most outspoken critics, main the primary impeachment trial in 2020 and serving on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots by Trump’s supporters.
Trump has labeled Schiff an “enemy within” and a “sleazebag.” And simply Sunday, Trump repeated his risk to punish his political adversaries, saying of these on the Jan. 6 committee: “Honestly, they should go to jail.”
Schiff, nonetheless, stated he doesn’t need a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden in case Trump follows by, calling it “unnecessary.”
Schiff’s first alternative to push again on Trump could possibly be affirmation hearings on the president-elect’s contentious Cupboard picks, although the Senate received’t vote on them till after the Jan. 20 inauguration.
Trump introduced Monday that he has nominated Harmeet Dhillona California Republican chief and conservative legal professionalas assistant legal professional basic for civil rights. Trump praised her for representing Christians restricted from gathering through the COVID lockdowns, suing firms for “woke” insurance policies and preventing election fraud.
Schiff serves alongside U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla — ending California’s 30-year lengthy streak of getting at the least one feminine senator. Schiff replaces Laphonza Butlerwho was appointed after Feinstein’s loss of life in September 2023 however didn’t search to maintain the seat. He will likely be succeeded within the Home subsequent month by Democrat Laura Friedman, a former Assemblymember and Glendale mayor.