Harris ribs Sanders during official Senate swearing-in

Vice President Harris gently ribbed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the official Senate swearing-in on Friday. 

"Stand right here. Although that is not your nature, to just stand where you're told to stand, but give it a try,” Harris said, per C-SPAN footage, greeting the independent senator with a pat on the back. Sanders appeared to give a soft laugh before the pair started the swear-in. 

The light-hearted moment came as Harris opened the Senate for the 119th Congress on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, the House was meeting for a contentious Speakership vote, during which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) held on to his gavel by a one-vote margin. 

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, supported Harris’s fast-tracked presidential bid in 2024 and praised her following her loss, saying she did her “very best” in the race against President-elect Trump. 

But he also offered some searing criticism of the Democratic party in the wake of Trump’s win. 

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party, which has abandoned working-class people, would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders said in a previous statement about the results of the election.

Sanders is now entering his fourth six-year Senate term, and Harris is on her way out of the White House amid questions about her next steps.