Brown expects to be seated next week

Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said Thursday that he expects to be formally seated next week. 

Brown made his comments during a media appearance on Capitol Hill, where he is visiting several senators. 

Asked if he will return to Washington next week to be seated, Brown said "I would think so. That seems to be the indication.

"Yes, I am not anticipating any problem with seating," he added. "I think the delegation wants me seated, and when I spoke to [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid [(D-Nev.)], he didn't seem to think there was any issues, and there's certainly no issues in Massachusetts, so I am anticipating sometime next week."

Reid's office has said that it will wait for the election results to be certified by Massachusetts before seating the newly-electeed Senator. The process could take up to fifteen days from this Tuesday, but Brown indicated he could be seated earlier.

Republicans previously raised the possibility that Democrats could push the healthcare bill through before Brown is seated, but Democratic leaders have taken that possibility off the table. 

When he is seated, Brown will become the 41st GOP senator, breaking the Democrats' filibuster-proof majority. As a result, Democratic leaders are now formulating a new strategy to pass healthcare reform without having to take another vote in the Senate that requires a 60-senator majority.