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Kamala Harris
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Tasos Katopodis / AP
New President Joe Biden's Democrats have replaced the Republicans as the dominant party in the US Senate.
Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath from three new senators on Wednesday - a few hours after she was sworn in.
The Democrats, like the Republicans, have 50 seats in the Chamber of Parliament.
As Vice President Harris is also President of the Senate and can break a stalemate with her vote in favor of the Democrats.
The Democrat Chuck Schumer and the Republican Mitch McConnell change roles: Schumer will be majority leader, McConnell minority leader.
Harris received applause at her first session as President of the Senate.
Two of the Democrats’s new Senators are Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who beat Republican incumbents in Georgia’s runoff earlier this month.
On Tuesday, the election result was officially confirmed by the Georgia authorities, clearing the way for Warnock and Ossoff to be sworn in.
Warnock is the first black man to represent the southern state of Georgia in the US Senate.
Alex Padilla will take over Harris' previous seat in California.
Among other things, the Senate confirms the presidential candidates for important government posts.
With the Democrats' control over the parliamentary chamber, Biden has more leeway to shape his policy - at least for two years until the next round of elections.
Read all developments in the news blog.
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