In one of his last acts as Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell gifted Vice President Kamala Harris a flag that flew over the Capitol as she took her oath of office earlier on Wednesday.
While the coronavirus pandemic led President Biden’s inaugural committee to cancel the traditional Inauguration Day congressional luncheon, members still presented him and Harris with gifts.
“No one has attended more those lunches than President Biden has,” Republican Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt joked about Biden, a former 36-year senator, while presenting a gift of a painting of a landscape with a rainbow.
McConnell will become minority leader Wednesday afternoon in a 50-50 divided Senate, with Harris casting the tie-breaking vote to make New York Democrat Chuck Schumer leader of a razor-thin majority.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gifted Biden another flag that flew over the Capitol.
McConnell couldn’t resist throwing a little bit of Senate-superiority shade at Pelosi.
“On behalf of the Senate, with all the respect to our distinguished speaker and our colleagues from the House, I have to note, not only did we just swear in a son and daughter of the Senate, but both former senators skipped the House altogether,” McConnell said.
Other gits included a pair of Lenox crystal vases, presented by Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and a framed photograph of the inauguration presented by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
