Former Newark Mayor Cory Booker will officially join the U.S. Senate today at a noon swearing-in ceremony, becoming the second black member of the current Senate and only the ninth in the chamber’s history.
Vice President Biden will officiate the ceremony, as he does for nearly all incoming senators. But a few hours later, Booker will do something most senators don’t on their first day: have a personal meeting with the president. Obama administration aides announced Wednesday the president would meet with Booker, a longtime ally, on Thursday afternoon.
Booker will join Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina as the only black members of the Senate. And Scott and Booker could make history in 2014, as both are running to win full six-year terms.
Two blacks have never won Senate elections in the same year.