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Senator John Kerry calls for quick seating of Scott Brown

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Senator-elect for Massachusetts Scott Brown arrives for a news conference after winning the special election to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy yesterday, in Boston, January 20, 2010. REUTERS/Adam Hunger

Senator-elect for Massachusetts Scott Brown arrives for a news conference after winning the special election to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward Kennedy yesterday, in Boston, January 20, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Adam Hunger

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON | Thu Jan 21, 2010 11:33am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John Kerry on Thursday called for the seating of Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown "as expeditiously as possible."

In meetings with lawmakers in Congress, Brown said he might be sworn in as Massachusetts' first Republican senator since 1972 sometime next week. A senior Democratic aide said that timeframe was possible.

Brown will be the 41st Republican in the 100-seat Senate and he could provide the crucial vote to potentially block President Barack Obama's agenda in the Senate, including healthcare reform.

Opposition to the healthcare legislation was a key issue in Brown's upset victory in Massachusetts on Tuesday, when he won the seat formerly held by the late Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democratic icon.

Brown has said he is open to working with Democrats as well as Republicans on healthcare and other matters.

"People want me to be part of the process and part of the solution," Brown told reporters during a visit with Republican Senator John McCain.

Kerry, the senior senator from Massachusetts, said he favors "seating Brown as expeditiously as possible."

Before Tuesday's election, state officials in Massachusetts said it would take about 15 days to certify the results and clear the way for Brown's swearing in. But others have suggested it could be done quicker, noting that Kennedy took office on November 7, 1962, a day after he won a special election to succeed his brother John.

(Editing by Paul Simao)
Politics
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Comments (6)
martin123 wrote:
How selfish that he would want Congress to start over again or go back to the drawing board with regard to Health Care reform. Does he think that the whole world revolves around him?

Jan 21, 2010 3:50am EST  --  Report as abuse
tam081228 wrote:
martin123’s accusation that Scott Brown is selfish for wanting a redesign of *****care is naught but party hackdom. The Democrats have been in control of all elements that write new federal law, yet they act like a pack of hyenas around an ibis corpse. Polls indicate growing public fear and dislike of the controls the Democrats want to assert over Americans’ health care. Yet, Pelosi and her merry band of control freaks threaten to plunge forward. Even Barack Obama and Harry Reid says Congress should slow until Brown is seated. Yet Pelosi seems to offer merely a nod that Massachusetts voters exist. Brown was elected because Massachusetts legislators arrogantly created and then recreated laws on how to seat a temporary senator. Party arrogance. Voter anger. Now Pelosi threatens arrogance of a similar stripe. When will the voters of her California district rise up and toss the grannybum out in the bay?

Jan 21, 2010 10:13am EST  --  Report as abuse
rwindle wrote:
I’m a hard core Democrat, but he won fair and square. I am amazed and disappointed that Pres. Obama promised to bring major changes to governance, but has quickly settled into what is basically the Beltway status quo. This election is proof positive that Democrats continue to fail miserably in making good on bringing real changes in governing this country.

We, the American citizens, continue to settle for lip service from both parties. It is, and apparently will be, business as usual in Washington. The political pendulum swings right and left, but the best interests of the majority of Americans remains a low priority compared to the interests of the big lobbyists.

Jan 21, 2010 10:21am EST  --  Report as abuse
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