It's official now. The new Secretary of State is John Kerry. The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to confirm the nomination of Mr. Kerry with a vote of 94 in favor and 3 against. The three opposing votes were from John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma). Mr. Kerry voted present, while Senators Patty Murray (D-Washington) and John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) did not vote.Kerry is expected to start his new job immediately. He turned in his senate resignation on Tuesday, and that now clears the way for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to appoint an interim replacement. It is expected that Patrick will appoint either a woman or a minority to the post.
While the vote to approve Kerry was overwhelming and bipartisan, don't start thinking the Senate Republicans are now ready to start working with the Democrats to get some things done for this country. This was a special case. I'm sure there were a few Republicans who voted for Kerry because they have served with him for a long time and consider him a friend. But for most, this was strictly a political decision.
The Republicans are hoping that they can replace Kerry with a Republican in the coming June special election. And they might be able to do that if former-Senator Scott Brown decides to run. He has not yet made the decision to run, but you can bet the Republican officials will be putting pressure on him to toss his hat back in the ring. He's the only Republican in that state who would have a chance of winning the special election (and current polls show him slightly ahead of Rep. Markey, who is a Democrat and the only declared candidate).
