Doug Jones is sworn in, shrinking GOP Senate majority

Democrat Doug Jones was sworn in Wednesday as Alabama’s newest U.S. senator, reducing the Republican advantage to 51 to 49 and giving his party more room to impede President Trump’s 2018 legislative agenda.

Jones took his oath of office alongside former vice president Joe Biden, a longtime friend who had urged him to run last year. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) was also sworn in Wednesday to replace former senator Al Franken; she was joined by former vice president Walter Mondale.

The arrival of Smith and Jones on Capitol Hill highlighted the extent to which the #MeToo movement has swept over Washington. Jones defied the political tilt of his state by defeating Republican Roy Moore, who was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Smith’s predecessor, Franken, resigned under pressure from fellow Democrats after allegations emerged that he had touched women inappropriately.

Even before it was clear what committees Jones would serve on, the Alabama Democrat was already playing an outsize role. His presence allows Democrats to block any Trump nominee, or any legislation, by winning just two Republican defectors. Vice President Pence can break 50-to-50 ties.

Senate Republican aides privately conceded that Jones’s vote will make it nearly impossible to take another run at repealing the Affordable Care Act and may quiet talk of a push for a major entitlement overhaul this year.

Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama is greeted by a supporter after his victory Dec. 12. (John Bazemore/AP)
Jones did not telegraph what he would do with his influential position as he shuttled between engagements in the Capitol on Wednesday. As he did as a candidate, Jones presented himself as a compromiser, even though many of his views align much more closely with the Democratic Party.

“I think any good senator is a bipartisan, and that’s what I’m looking to do,” Jones said as he walked through the Capitol for his swearing-in.

Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), who like Jones represents a heavily conservative state, said Wednesday was the first time he had met the Alabamian.

“I said ‘Welcome to the radical middle,’ ” Manchin said, recounting their chat.

Jones, 63, became the most junior member of the Senate, just behind Smith. After being officially sworn in, the two of them, accompanied by their families and guests, walked to the Old Senate Chamber for a reenactment. Biden watched from a few feet away.

“Smile, man, smile!” Biden urged. As he walked toward Jones and Pence, who administered the oath of office, Biden said that Alabama’s last Democratic senator, for whom Jones once worked, would be proud of him