Romney sworn in as senator

Mitt Romney was sworn into the Senate on Thursday, marking his formal re-entrance to Washington politics. 

Romney was sworn in by Vice President Pence to fill the seat held by outgoing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). He was accompanied on the floor by Hatch and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). 

Mitt Romney, the former Republican 2012 presidential candidate, is sworn in as the junior senator from Utah https://t.co/PQvimDOk3V pic.twitter.com/UciUlMD8ej

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 3, 2019

{mosads}The former presidential candidate was spotted hobnobbing on the Senate floor before his swear in, shaking hands with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.), backslapping retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and chatting with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). 

Romney’s swearing-in comes days after he published an op-ed critical of President Trump, who he argued hasn’t “risen to the mantle” of the presidency. 

The op-ed earned him pushback from President Trump, members of his own family and some of his Republican colleagues.

It’s a U-turn for Romney, who had routinely brushed off questions from reporters as he shuffled around the U.S. Capitol attending freshman orientation and largely kept his public focus off Trump following his comfortable election win. 

Reporters tried to approach him as he headed into the Senate chamber but were brushed off by a handler.  

Romney is one of nine new senators sworn, eight of whom were sworn in on Thursday. Sen.-elect Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is expected to be sworn in later this month. 

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) were also sworn in. 

McSally lost her Senate bid against Sinema last year but was appointed to fill the seat that was formerly held by the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). 

Her ascension, as well as Rosen and Sinema, will make Nevada and Arizona two of only a handful of states to be represented by two female senators.