When will Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff be sworn in?

| 2:00 pm EST January 6, 2021
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Reverend Raphael Warnock has been declared the winner by multiple major media outlets. Jon Ossoff hasn’t yet been declared the winner, but at this point his win is also assured. So what happens now?

The media doesn’t make their wins official; that’ll come down to certification by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Given the clear margins and his handling of the November election, we don’t expect any hijinks. There is the question of whether Ossoff will win by more than 0.5%, which would prevent a recount. But even if there is a recount, it would only take a few days. Even if Loeffler and Perdue try to go to court, we’ve already seen that it doesn’t really stop or even delay anything.

The bottom line is that Georgia will almost certainly certify Warnock and Ossoff before January 20th, and they’ll be sworn in immediately after certification. In other words, President Biden should take office with his Senate majority already intact. Kamala Harris’ Senate replacement, Alex Padilla, will be sworn in as soon as Harris resigns from her Senate seat to become Vice President.