Kamala Harris Officially Resigns from Senate as She Prepares to Become First Female VP

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has officially resigned from her seat in the Senate ahead of Inauguration Day, when she will take the oath of office and become the nation’s first female vice president.

Harris’s letter was short and sweet.

“I hereby resign as Senator from the State of California, effective January 18th, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST,” Harris wrote in a letter addressed to California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat.

“As I assume my duties as Vice President of the United States, I would like to thank the people of California for the honor of serving them in the U.S. Senate over the past four years,” she concluded.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

You can read her letter HERE.

Harris also addressed her resignation in an op-ed for The San Francisco Chronicle. 

“And this is not goodbye. As I resign from the Senate, I am preparing to take an oath that would have me preside over it,” Harris wrote. “As senator-turned-Vice-President Walter Mondale once pointed out, the vice presidency is the only office in our government that ‘belongs to both the executive branch and the legislative branch.’ A responsibility made greater with an equal number of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.”

“Since our nation’s founding, only 268 tie-breaking votes have been cast by a Vice President. I intend to work tirelessly as your Vice President, including, if necessary, fulfilling this Constitutional duty,” she added. “At the same time, it is my hope that rather than come to the point of a tie, the Senate will instead find common ground and do the work of the American people.”


Copyright PoliticusUSA LLC 2008-2023