WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Former Rep. Mark Kirk was sworn in as U.S. senator from Illinois Monday, increasing the number of GOP Senate seats to 42 for the lame-duck session of Congress.
Kirk, who defeated Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias in the Nov. 2 election, takes over the Senate seat held by Barack Obama before Obama was elected president in 2008. He was administered the oath of office twice Monday by Vice President Joe Biden -- once on the Senate floor, where photographers are banned, and a second time in the Old Senate Chamber, where photography was permitted but reporters were not allowed to ask questions, The Hill reported.