Senator John Kerry calls for quick seating of Scott Brown [View All]

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: The Washington Post

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John Kerry on Thursday called for the seating of Republican Senator-elect Scott Brown "as expeditiously as possible."

In meetings with lawmakers in Congress, Brown said he might be sworn in as Massachusetts' first Republican senator since 1972 sometime next week. A senior Democratic aide said that timeframe was possible.

Brown will be the 41st Republican in the 100-seat Senate and he could provide the crucial vote to potentially block President Barack Obama's agenda in the Senate, including healthcare reform.

Opposition to the healthcare legislation was a key issue in Brown's upset victory in Massachusetts on Tuesday, when he won the seat formerly held by the late Senator Edward Kennedy, a Democratic icon.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012101958.html