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Schiff alerted the House on Friday that he would be leaving the lower chamber effective Sunday and confirmed to the Washington Examiner he will be sworn in to the Senate on Dec. 9, less than a month before the 119th Congress begins on Jan. 3, 2025.

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The incoming senator thanked his constituents in a video after casting his last vote Friday on the House floor.

“I’m so grateful for the opinions you shared with me, the values you shared with me, the legislative ideas, how you made it possible for me to be effective in being your voice,” Schiff said.

Schiff added that he’s met with many Republican and Democratic senators ahead of his transition to the upper chamber and is optimistic about the “real culture there of finding common ground.”

The outgoing congressman ends his 24-year tenure in the House with a reputation as a chief antagonist to President-elect Donald Trump, leading the first House impeachment involving withholding aid to Ukraine in return for investigations of Hunter Biden. When Republicans took control of the House, then-Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) stripped Schiff from his Intelligence Committee assignment, arguing he had misused intelligence for political purposes.

In June 2023, Republicans voted to censure Schiff, and McCarthy delivered a public reprimand that said Schiff misled the public during congressional investigations into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. Trump this year referred to Schiff as “an enemy from within,” fueling speculation that President Joe Biden should issue preemptive pardons for Schiff and others to shield them from Trump’s possible legal retribution.

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The California congressman defeated Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) in the primary and easily won the 2024 election to replace the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA), who came to Congress in October 2023 to finish out Feinstein’s term, gave her farewell address on the Senate floor on Thursday and wished Schiff well in his new role.

“What I know is that I stand on the floor of this Senate — of the Senate as a 14-month senator, but my road to justice and the pursuit of justice has been much longer than 14 months,” Butler said.

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Sen.-elect Andy Kim (D-NJ) will also resign effective Sunday and be sworn in on Dec. 9. Sen. George Helmy (D-NJ), who was appointed the caretaker of the seat held by disgraced Sen. Bob Menendez, will end his tenure on Sunday.

“He’s just so thoughtful. He’s compassionate. He’s clearly well-versed in the issues facing New Jersey and the nation,” Helmy said about Kim. “So, we are very lucky to have him in this seat.”

In a statement, Kim praised Helmy for stepping up in a “time of need.” In a post to X on Friday, Kim reflected on his final vote and years in the House, focusing on the word “Tolerance” etched into a panel at the end of the House aisle the president walks down for a State of the Union address.

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“Now I walk to the other side of the Capitol, to the Senate,” Kim said. “I look forward to exploring symbols there. But I take note that the Senate center doors that I enter draw a perfect straight line across the Capitol to the center aisle of the House, and this inscription of Tolerance.”

The exits of both Butler and Helmy allow Schiff and Kim to build seniority over his other freshman colleagues in the Senate, who will not come into the upper chamber until January. Schiff and Kim are two of six Democrats who were elected to a new term on Nov. 5.