Elections carry significant consequences. Amidst the celebrations and reflections on the results of the 2024 presidential election, certain outcomes are proving to be less thrilling. One such development is the decision of California Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) to resign from his position in the House of Representatives. Schiff’s departure comes as he transitions to assume office as California’s junior senator. Rather unusually, his swearing-in for this new role will take place on December 9th, ahead of the typical January schedule. The special election victory, alongside his successful bid for the upcoming full term starting in 2025, sets the stage for Schiff’s shift to the Senate, where he will be stepping into the shoes of Senator Laphonza Butler (D-CA), who had been appointed to temporarily fill the vacancy left by the late Dianne Feinstein.
This will give Schiff, one of the most vocal proponents of the “OMG RUSSIAN COLLUSION” hoax, a larger platform.
Schiff 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.
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.”
Schiff has been — or, at least, has attempted to be — a thorn in President-elect (hah) Donald Trump’s side since the 2016 election. We can expect he will continue his self-appointed role in the Senate.
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.
Adam Schiff’s 24 years in the House makes him a poster child for term limits. He was vindictive and irrational in the House, and he will be vindictive and irrational in the Senate. In the House, he most recently represented the once-Golden State’s 30th Congressional district, which encompasses parts of the Los Angeles area, including parts of Burbank, Hollywood, Pasadena, and Glendale, among others. But there’s an interesting possibility here. Adam Schiff was able to hold on to his House seat no matter how silly he got because, throughout his House career, he represented largely Democrat districts. But a quick look at the California 2024 election map shows some shift in the state-wide electorate; it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that statewide voters may decide, in the 2030 Senate election, he’s just a bit too ridiculous, too consumed with Trump Derangement Syndrome, and turn him out. Six years is a lot of time for Adam Schiff to mend his ways and assume a more sedate profile, as befitting the Senate; or, it may be plenty of time for him to further demonstrate just how silly he is.
Maybe.
