An issue that refuses to go away, which surrounded the Scott Brown Senate campaign, was when Senator-elect Brown (R - MA) would be certified and sworn in as Massachusetts’ new U.S. senator.
The Washington Times spoke to Mr. Brown’s spokesman Felix Browne, who said they expect the GOP’er from Wrentham to be seated in the Senate by February 11.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion increase in the federal debt limit. This legislation was passed with all Democrats voting for it and all Republicans voting against it. The bill now goes to the House and if passed, another vote on the debt will not happen until well after the mid-term elections in 2011.
Senator Paul Kirk (D – MA), who will be replaced by Mr. Brown, voted for the bill, which led some to question why Mr. Kirk is still voting on legislation. While Senate Democrat Jim Webb of Virginia requested that health care votes should not happen until the new Massachusetts Senator is seated, almost two weeks have passed since the election, and Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-MA) was seated two days after the 2007 special election for former Rep. Marty Meehan’s seated. The Democrats needed Ms. Tsongas to help overturn President Bush’s veto of the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP.)
“He [Scott Brown] believes we spend too much and we borrow too much, so raising the debt ceiling doesn’t sound like the kind of thing he would support,” said Mr. Browne of the Senator-elect.
According to the Brown spokesman, Senator-elect Brown and his staff are monitoring votes on the Hill as they come up. “If there is anything of concern, he may seek to expedite his seating,” said Mr. Browne. However, as of now, “hi-jinks or chicanery” is not suspected at the state level, Mr. Browne noted. “The process appears to be unfolding and proceeding in a natural way.”
