Brown to be sworn in next Thursday

Senator-elect Scott Brown (R-Mass.) will be sworn in next Thursday, Feb. 11, one of his soon-to-be colleagues announced Monday.

Brown will take his seat in the Senate 23 days after winning a special election to fill the vacancy left by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D), said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Cornyn tweeted the news on Monday (though he misidentified on which day of the week the swearing-in would take place):

Sen-elect Scott Brown will be officially sworn in on [sic] Fri, Feb 11 at 12:45pm http://bit.ly/cBXDyk

That makes for almost two full weeks for the Senate to operate at its current, 60-vote majority for Democrats before Brown joins, at which point the GOP will be able to sustain a filibuster.

And while Senate Democrats have agreed to not move on healthcare legislation before the end of Brown's time in office, GOP aides have been arguing that moving forward with votes on nominations or other major legislation would jeopardize already-tense relations between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

"If they try to push this guy through before Scott Brown is seated it would seriously jeopardize Senate relations and destroy Democrats last shred of credibility," one Senate GOP aide said about the nomination of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) nominee Craig Becker, for instance.

"The place would melt down. A shady move like that would spark an all out war. And the outrage wouldn’t be limited to the Senate chamber," the aide added. "The majority of Americans oppose card check and if Democrats cut a backroom deal to circumvent the legislative process in an effort to enact it by regulation, 2010 will make 1994 seem like a good year for their party. "

Cross-posted to the Briefing Room.