--- title: Harris to Swear-In Senators Who Refuse to Say Her Name Right description: Kamala Harris will swear in Republicans who falsely told voters she would rig the election, ban Christmas, and welcome pet-eating immigrants. canonical: https://time.com/7204412/kamala-harris-congress-republicans/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-01-02T21:28:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:49:18.352Z article:section: Politics og:title: Harris to Swear-In Senators Who Refuse to Say Her Name Right og:description: Kamala Harris will swear in new and re-elected members to the Senate on Friday, including some who mispronounced her name and misrepresented her views to voters og:url: https://time.com/7204412/kamala-harris-congress-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1093cf96d733998/6998b23a93610c1e4ac2d5ec/GettyImages-1454057748.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Newly-Elected Senators Attend Ceremonial Swearing-In Event At U.S. Capitol og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harris to Swear-In Senators Who Refuse to Say Her Name Right twitter:description: Kamala Harris will swear in new and re-elected members to the Senate on Friday, including some who mispronounced her name and misrepresented her views to voters twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1093cf96d733998/6998b23a93610c1e4ac2d5ec/GettyImages-1454057748.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:49 video:published: 2025-01-03 section: politics topics: Senate swearing-in, oath of office, certificates of election, six-year terms, Pledge of Allegiance, Senate procedure, new senators, Capitol ceremony genre: news, procedural footage tones: formal, solemn, ceremonial, procedural emotions: solemnity (high), respect (medium), pride (low) sentiment: neutral audience: political news readers, civics students, government watchers, general news audience people: Kamala Harris organizations: United States Senate transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Kamala Harris Heads to Capitol to Swear-In Senators Who Won’t Even Say Her Name Right > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0b1ca6e5-8ec9-4dc4-ba15-99542324292a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Vice President Kamala Harris Swears in New Members of Congress [Watch (HLS stream): Vice President Kamala Harris Swears in New Members of Congress](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/i8vKecYF.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2025-01-03. When Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol on Friday to swear-in the new class of Senators, many of the smiling politicians handing her their family Bibles will be the same ones who for months have been telling crowds that she was a threat to the American way of life._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video shows the opening of a Senate session in which the Pledge of Allegiance is recited and the presiding officer lays before the Senate the certificates of election for 32 senators serving six-year terms beginning January 3, 2025. The reading of the certificates is waived by unanimous consent, and senators are called forward in groups of four in alphabetical order. The chair then administers the oath of office, and the senators respond affirmatively and are congratulated. ## Key points - The session opens with the Pledge of Allegiance, led by the presiding officer asking those present to join in. (00:00) - The chair lays before the Senate the certificates of election of 32 senators elected for six-year terms beginning on January 3, 2025. (00:21) - The chair is advised that all certificates are in the form suggested by the Senate or contain all its essential requirements. (00:32) - If there is no objection, reading of the certificates is waived and they will be printed in full in the record. (00:43) - Senators to be sworn are asked to present themselves at the desk in groups of four, called in alphabetical order. (00:51) - The oath requires supporting and defending the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and bearing true faith and allegiance to it. (01:06) - Senators swear to take the obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. (01:19) - The oath ends with a pledge to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office, followed by 'so help you God.' (01:26) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:21] Pledge of Allegiance. The session opens with the Pledge of Allegiance. - [00:21 to 01:01] Certificates of election and procedure. The chair presents the certificates for 32 senators, waives their reading, and explains that senators will be sworn in groups of four in alphabetical order. - [01:01 to 01:49] Administering the oath of office. The chair administers the oath, the senators respond 'I do,' and they are congratulated. ## Key quotes - [00:21] Presiding officer: "The chair lays before the Senate the certificates of the election of 32 senators elected for six year terms, beginning on January 3, 2025." - [00:43] Presiding officer: "If there be no objection, the reading of the certificates will be waived and they will be printed in full in the record." - [00:51] Presiding officer: "If the senators to be sworn will now present themselves at the desk in groups of four, as their names are called in alphabetical order, the chair will administer their oaths of office." - [01:06] Presiding officer: "Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic," - [01:35] Senators: "I do." ## Questions this video answers - How many senators were sworn in, and when do their terms begin? [00:21] - What happens to the certificates of election during the swearing-in? [00:43] - In what order and groupings are senators called to take the oath? [00:51] - What exactly do senators swear to in the oath of office? [01:06] - How does the session begin? [00:00]  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jan 2, 2025 9:28 PM UTC When Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol on Friday to swear-in the new class of Senators, many of the smiling politicians handing her their family Bibles will be the same ones who for months have been telling crowds that she was a threat to the American way of life.  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jan 2, 2025 9:28 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ When Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol on Friday to swear-in the new class of Senators, many of the smiling politicians handing her their family Bibles will be the same ones who for months have been telling crowds that she was a threat to the American way of life. At campaign rallies, on social media, and in interviews, some spent months falsely claiming she wanted to ban Christmas from the calendar, bring dog meat to immigrants’ stoves, or rig the election by inviting undocumented immigrants to flood polling places and cast illegal ballots. Of the four Senators taking oaths on Friday who also spoke at the Republican convention in Milwaukee last year, [three](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/18/all-rnc-speakers-who-got-kamala-harriss-name-wrong-so-far/) of them couldn’t be bothered to pronounce her name correctly when they took a moment to ridicule her. It’s an inelegant reality that every Vice President faces in their role as the President of the Senate, one that is particularly raw for those like Harris, [Al Gore](https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/21/us/the-inauguration-the-departure-gore-takes-a-last-bow-with-grace-and-relief.html), and [Richard Nixon](https://www.congress.gov/bound-congressional-record/1961/01/03/daily-digest) who lost their presidential bids but still had to return for a final few weeks of a grind at the Capitol. Former Senators all, they understood that the norms of the Upper Chamber could not be set aside to save their bruised ego, nor would these institutionalists ask to be spared. Standing there with folks who trashed them is just part of the gig. Or at least that’s what they have to tell themselves. That doesn’t make it—or presiding over a Senate on Jan. 6 as it certifies their opponents’ win in the Electoral College—any easier. Just ask former Vice Presidents Mike Pence, Joe Biden, and Dan Quayle how much they enjoyed helping set their political foes on the final glidepath toward replacing them. For Harris, who [inherited](https://time.com/6997832/biden-drop-out-presidential-race/) the Democratic nomination late in the calendar, the day cannot be one of ease. Although she has put forward a strong face in the wake of her convincing defeat and has told her supporters and aides that pity parties are not how they do things, the arrival in Washington this week of some of her fiercest—and most creative—critics, now imbued with more power, provides an added sting to the meteoric [rise](https://time.com/7009317/reintroduction-of-kamala-harris/) and shocking [shortfall](https://time.com/7173550/how-kamala-harris-lost/) she endured over the last six months. Take Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno of Ohio, who was born in Bogatá, Colombia and ran an auto empire in Cleveland before unseating Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown by tapping into voters’ anxieties over immigration in a former [industrial](https://time.com/4256739/hillary-clinton-rust-belt/) powerhouse. Moreno not only helped spread the false allegations that residents of Springfield, Ohio, were eating dogs and cats, he claimed they were the [byproduct](https://nypost.com/2024/09/14/us-news/ohio-gop-senate-hopeful-blames-harris-for-springfield-migrant-crisis/) of Harris’ role in giving temporary status to legal immigrants, and [said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLK%5FEMH4OWc) Harris and fellow Democrats “have put the welfare of illegals ahead of our own citizens.” Meanwhile, his campaign inched very close to [blaming](https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/09/17/amid-ongoing-threats-ohio-gop-us-senate-candidate-calls-for-deporting-springfield-legal-immigrants/) Harris for a failed assassination attempt against Trump. Sen.-elect Jim Banks of Indiana, campaigning for one of the safest seats in the country, stuck with the tried-and-true culture war fodder in [saying](https://x.com/Jim%5FBanks/status/1847432992072843416) Harris wanted her “war of Christmas.” Harris will swear in him too, along with Sen. Ted Cruz, who spent months [saying](https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-wants-immigrant-invasion-ted-cruz-1980014) Harris and her allies were [coordinating](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vp-harris-actively-encouraging-illegal-immigration-coordination-mexico-cruz-charges) asylum seekers to flood the country with future voters. (For the [record](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yj98grr5lo): non-citizens cannot vote.) Cruz also [said](https://www.newsweek.com/zelensky-campaigning-harris-ted-cruz-1959618) in September the Ukrainian president was using a trip to the United States to campaign as a Harris surrogate. And Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who had [eyed](https://www.axios.com/2024/11/13/rick-scott-votes-senate-republican-leader) the top job in his chamber but did not get it, crassly [assessed](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/698310-scott-harris-butt-florida/) that Harris was ignoring his state’s post-hurricane recovery to chase photo-ops. “She doesn’t care enough about Florida to get her butt down here and say she’s going to make sure the federal government is a partner in what’s going on right now in our state,” Scott said. He also accused her of [picking](https://floridapolitics.com/archives/702101-rick-scott-says-racism-behind-kamala-harris-proposal-for-biz-loans-for-black-men/) the policies she touted based on “racism.” And as these newcomers and alumni alike take the oath on Friday, they’ll be repeating it from the woman who, at least until Election Day of last year, was considered the standard-bearer of apolitical party now looking for an identity and a future. Political pros like Harris understand this is just the nature of the performative piece of doing the job. As a former career prosecutor, district attorney, state Attorney General, Senator, Vice President, and presidential nominee, she gets that the folks across the aisle will take every opportunity to amplify and even at times invent daylight between the two parties. She certainly has done it over her career, and there’s no indication that the 60-year-old trailblazer is done. That doesn’t mean there is any of that [joy](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/us/politics/kamala-harris-walz-joy.html) heading from the Veep’s residence at the Naval Observatory to Capitol Hill as this week ends. Harris and Biden alike are packing up offices that will soon be held by their polar opposites. Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance—whose Senate [seat](https://www.wlwt.com/article/jd-vance-senate-seat-appointment-governor-dewine/63304863) from Ohio is still an [open question](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/07/florida-ohio-senate-appointments-trump-desantis-dewine/) that only Gov. Mike DeWine can answer—are about as unlikely a pair of heirs as can be expected. The Senate, too, is about to pivot not just from a Democratic majority to a Republican one, but a GOP-led chamber without former Leader Mitch McConnell’s iron hold over his caucus. That potential chaos in a chamber requiring 60 votes for almost every piece of consequential legislation may be the lone reason Harris can summon comfort as she readies for photo-ops with figures who spent months trashing her, weeks misrepresenting her updated policies, and for years to come will be casting votes in Washington while she plans her next moves. So Harris will grip, grin, and grit on Friday, and for the next 17 days. Just don’t expect her to forget the litany of slights they hurled at her. Like all good pols at her level, Harris’ memory can be stubborn. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript [00:00] Please join me in pledging allegiance to our flag. [00:06] Pledge allegiance to the United of the United States of America and to the Republic, [00:13] with its hand, one nation under God, [00:17] indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [00:21] The chair lays before the Senate the certificates of the election [00:24] of 32 senators elected for six year terms, [00:29] beginning on January 3, 2025. [00:32] All certificates the chair is advised are in the form suggested by [00:37] the Senate or contain all the essential requirements of the form suggested by the Senate. [00:43] If there be no objection, [00:45] the reading of the certificates will be [00:47] waived and they will be printed in full in the record. [00:51] If the senators to be sworn will now present themselves at the desk in groups of four, [00:58] as their names are called in alphabetical order, [01:01] the chair will administer their oaths of office. [01:06] Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend [01:10] the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, [01:15] that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, [01:19] that you take this obligation freely without [01:23] any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, [01:26] and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of [01:30] the office upon which you are about to enter, so help you God. [01:35] I do. I do. 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