Jan. 18 (UPI) — Kamala Harris formally stepped down from her role as senator Monday in advance of taking the oath of office as vice president of the United States in the 59th presidential inauguration.
“I’m not saying ‘goodbye,'” Harris said in a short video on her Twitter feed. “In many ways I’m now saying ‘hello’ as vice president of the United States. But I want to thank you for the honor of representing the place of my birth as a proud daughter of California.”
Harris reminisced about how in 1984 as a “kid from Oakland” and a Howard University undergraduate, she applied for and was chosen to be an intern for then-California Sen. Alan Cranston.
“Who would have known so many years later I would actually run the office where I was once a student,” she said.
Harris submitted a short letter of resignation to California Gov. Gavin Newsom stepping down as U.S. senator effective Monday at noon.
Harris and President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as president and vice president on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday starting at noon EST.
As vice president, Harris will likely spend plenty of time on the U.S. Senate floor where she will be the tie-breaking vote, giving the Democratic Party the majority. There are now an equal number of Democratic and Republican senators.
