With Signed Certification in Hand, Scott Brown Heads to Washington FOXNews.com
Sen.-elect Scott Brown is expected to be sworn in as the "41st vote" on health care on Thursday, heading down to Washington, D.C., after Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed the certification of election to make him the next U.S. senator.
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Tuesday: Sen.-elect Scott Brown sits with Boston radio personality Greg Hill, second from right, during a so-called "beer summit" at a bar in Boston's South End neighborhood to benefit the charity Homes for Our Troops. (AP Photo) Sen.-elect Scott Brown is expected to be sworn in as the "41st vote" on health care on Thursday, heading down to Washington, D.C., after Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed the certification of election to make him the next U.S. senator.
Patrick signed the certification around 9:30 a.m. ET, which he was planning to do anyway on Thursday. Brown will be sworn in by Vice President Biden in a mock ceremony for the cameras at 5 p.m. ET.
Brown had originally planned to be sworn in next Thursday, but urged a rush on the certification, saying that "it's time to get to work."
"The 11th was a tentative date based on the information we were getting from the secretary of state's office as to what he would need for certification. When he called me a couple days ago and indicated he would have it ready yesterday, we obviously moved our plans up because it's been a couple of weeks and it's time to get to work," he said.
The Senate is expected to hold some potentially important votes before next Thursday, something Brown's attorney wrote in a letter to Patrick and Secretary of State William Galvin.
Among those votes are approvals of two of President Obama's nominees -- one to the National Labor Relations Board and another to the General Services Administration.
The vote of Craig Becker to the NLRB has raised objections from Republicans, who say they want to filibuster the man who reportedly does not believe employers should have a say in whether employees unionize.
Having Brown in the Senate potentially could allow Republicans to block the nomination.
Brown has already indicated he also wants to stop the president's health care reform agenda, which may be a vote that never is taken because Democrats seem adrift on how to proceed.
Brown's election -- built in large part on his vow to block health care -- has been received as a warning by some Democrats who view the vote as a public affirmation of opposition.
Other administration priorities, like climate change, energy policy and judicial appointments, could all be impacted by Brown, though he has repeatedly said he will not be a rubber stamp to GOP efforts to stop Democratic priorities.
Brown is filling the seat held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy for 47 years but he won't get the desk Kennedy used. Sen. John Kerry, the senior senator from Massachusetts, has called dibs on Desk 83, which was also used by John Kennedy. However, Brown will get the desk once used by another Kennedy -- Robert, who was briefly a senator from New York.
