Two new U.S. Senators to be sworn in Monday: California's Adam Schiff, NJ's Andy Kim

Two new U.S. Senators, New Jersey's Andy Kim and California's Adam Schiff, are expected to be sworn in on Monday, starting their service after the November election a few weeks early.

Both Democrats were appointed by their respective governors on Sunday following two vacancies and will complete the remaining session of Congress. Starting in January, they will begin their six-year term in the Senate.

Kim, who served three terms in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, replaces Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned in the midst of a bribery scandal.

“It’s an honor to get to represent the state that gave my family a chance at the American Dream in the U.S. Senate,” Kim said in a statement on Sunday.

The 42-year-old Democrat will be making history as the first Korean American U.S. Senator after winning by about ten percentage points in the November election.

After Schiff won the general election, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to finish Sen. Laphonza Butler’s term, who took over following the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein in September.

Schiff, a 12-term congressman and the former chair of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee is perhaps best known for leading the first impeachment effort against then-President Donald Trump in 2019.

In January 2023, Trump wrote: "Schiff is a sleazebag and traitor, and should be prosecuted for the damage he has done to our Country!"

President Joe Biden's top aides are discussing whether preemptive pardons to current and former public officials who may be targeted by the incoming Trump administration should be considered, but Biden has not yet made a decision on the topic.