--- title: Democrats Want Doug Jones Seated to Fight Tax Overhaul description: Democrats won big with Doug Jones' victory in Alabama Tuesday. Now, they are fighting to have him seated as soon as possible canonical: https://time.com/5064217/dug-jones-tax-reform-democrats/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-14T16:47:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:34:21.457Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Want Doug Jones in the Senate Now. Here's Why That's Not Going to Happen og:description: He may not be sworn in until the new year. og:url: https://time.com/5064217/dug-jones-tax-reform-democrats/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02ef9b92945f1242/6988f514656a3ff8abbd2d91/doug-jones-alabama-senator.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4497 og:image:height: 2530 og:image:alt: doug jones alabama senator og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Want Doug Jones in the Senate Now. Here's Why That's Not Going to Happen twitter:description: He may not be sworn in until the new year. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02ef9b92945f1242/6988f514656a3ff8abbd2d91/doug-jones-alabama-senator.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Want Doug Jones in the Senate Now. Here's Why That's Not Going to Happen > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 14, 2017 4:47 PM UTC  Senator-elect Doug Jones speaks during a Dec. 13, 2017 in Birmingham, Ala Senator-elect Doug Jones speaks during a Dec. 13, 2017 in Birmingham, AlaMark Wallheiser—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 14, 2017 4:47 PM UTC Democrats won big with Doug Jones’ [victory](http://time.com/5062625/doug-jones-alabama-senate-results-upset/) in Alabama Tuesday. Now, they are fighting to have him seated as soon as possible. The push to swear in Jones quickly comes as Democrats aim to derail the Republican [tax overhaul](http://time.com/5062837/house-senate-gop-tax-bill-agreement/) currently in its final stages before a vote on Capitol Hill. The Republican majority in the Senate will slim to 51-49 when Jones takes office slimming the wiggle room Republicans have for defections. > [](https://twitter.com/SenKamalaHarris/status/940992211981885440) Democrats say recent history is on their side. In 2010, Republican Scott Brown won a special election for a Senate seat in the Democratic stronghold of Massachusetts. Then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, with the support of President Obama and other Democratic senators, delayed a vote on the Affordable Care Act until Brown took office. “We did it because democracy matters, even when it means that it might slow down a President’s agenda,” [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDhsAujjE4Y) Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the floor of the Senate following the election. “Democracy matters, even when a Senate seat held for decades by a liberal lion is taken over by a conservative. Democracy matters, especially when it is inconvenient.” But Republicans have no plans to delay their tax overhaul, a top legislative priority in a year few accomplishments to their names. That gives them until the end of the month, maybe even longer, to get a tax proposal to President Trump. Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill [told](http://time.com/5059673/alabama-special-election-results-2017-doug-jones/) TIME that under state law the election results will be certified between Dec. 26 and Jan. 3\. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that Luther Strange, who Jones is replacing, will remain in office until the end of the current legislative session. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5064217/dug-jones-tax-reform-democrats/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5064217/dug-jones-tax-reform-democrats/"},"headline":"Democrats Want Doug Jones in the Senate Now. 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