Scott Brown Could be Sworn in Thursday
William Galvin, the Massachusetts Secretary of State, certified Brown's victory Tuesday, and Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to sign the certification Wednesday morning.
Brown had planned to be sworn in on February 11th, but his campaign counsel asked Galvin and Patrick on Wednesday to certify the results "without delay."
Brown counsel Daniel Winslow wrote in a letter that Brown "has been advised that there are a number of votes scheduled prior to that date."
"For that reason, he wants certification to occur immediately," Winslow wrote in the letter. "As he is the duly elected United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he is entitled to be seated now." He asked for certification by 11:00 tomorrow morning.
There are no indications that either Galvin or Patrick had planned to delay certifying Brown. (Patrick was already scheduled to sign the certification tomorrow.) The senator-elect seems simply to have decided he wants to enter the Senate a week earlier than planned.
Senate officials must agree to a swearing-in date, and it is not yet known where discussions stand. CBS News Chief Political Consultant Marc Ambinder reports that an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that "if he wants to be sworn in tomorrow that is fine with us."
Brown's swearing-in will mean that Republicans have a 41st seat in the Senate, ending the Democrats' 60-seat supermajority. President Obama has said he would not push for Senate votes on significant issues until Brown is seated.