Raising the 47th, Lowering the 46th

With about ten days to go, Senator JD Vance, Vice President-elect, has resigned his seat, effective at midnight Thursday, as he prepares to assume his new responsibilities on January 20. In his place, it is expected that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will appoint Lt Gov Jon Husted to serve until the next special election in 2026.

 

Vance will assume office as the 50th vice president on January 20, 2025. There have been 49 U.S. vice presidents since the office was created in 1789.

At the same time, Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President. It will be a history making event, since he will be only the second person to become President, serving two non-consecutive terms. The last was Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd and 24th Presidents.

By January 20, or soon thereafter, we will see an additional flurry of resignations from the Congress as several Members are confirmed to various Cabinet posts, including Senator Marco Rubio to State, Representatives Elise Stefanik to the UN and Mike Waltz to National Security Advisor. Also, we will see Governors Kristi Noem and Doug Burgum resign their positions and take Cabinet posts.

We will begin to see unnamed sources leak the contents of some of the executive orders Donald Trump is expected to sign.

The Senate will take up confirmations hearings of all the nominees for the Cabinet, Ambassadorships and various other Constitutionally-required Congressional approval positions beginning next week.

All in all, the second Trump Administration is beginning to assert its presence while the dying Biden Administration slinks away into obscurity.

Ten more days.