Scott Brown to be sworn in Thursday

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen.-elect Scott Brown, R-Mass., will be sworn into office Thursday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told The Hill.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley told the Washington publication that the successor to the late Sen. Edward Kennedy will take the oath in a late afternoon ceremony.

"Once we get his certificate, we expect to swear him in tomorrow afternoon as early as 5 o'clock, which is earlier than he suggested," Manley said.

The Hill said Brown had asked Massachusetts state officials Wednesday to move quickly enough to allow him to be seated Thursday rather the following Thursday, Feb. 11. The publication said Brown's attorney wrote Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Secretary of State William Galvin asking them to certify Senate election results immediately.

"While Sen.-elect Brown had tentatively planned to be sworn in to office Feb. 11, he has been advised that there are a number of votes scheduled prior to that date," his attorneys wrote. "For that reason, he wants certification to occur immediately."

Brown has said he at first expected to be sworn in last week.