Jon Kyl was sworn in as a replacement for Senator John McCain today by VP Mike Pence. Actually, there were two swearing-in ceremonies one official and one ceremonial.

The first, official one took place on the Senate floor. Kyl entered the chamber with Sen. Jeff Flake. VP Pence asked him to raise his hand and asked if he would support and defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. When Kyl said yes, VP Pence replied, “Congratulations, Senator” and shook his hand. Here’s the clip.

Afterward, Kyl and Pence went to the Old Senate Chamber for a second, ceremonial swearing-in. Kyl’s college-age grandson held a Bible for the second ceremony. Video of the second ceremony is  only available on C-Span for the moment, but Sen. Flake tweeted this photo of the 2nd ceremony:

So happy to have Senator Kyl back in familiar surroundings. pic.twitter.com/ym0dGapGQl

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) September 5, 2018

And here’s a screengrab from immediately after the 2nd ceremony:

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) participated in ceremonial swearing-in ceremony in Old Senate Chamber after he was formally sworn into US Senate to replace the late Senator John McCain. https://t.co/L29jyYrTzL pic.twitter.com/k14ubXIAcX

— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) September 5, 2018

Kyl’s appointment restores Republicans to 51-49 control of the chamber which they’ll need for the upcoming vote on Judge Kavanaugh.

As Ed noted yesterday, Kyl has already said he’s not planning a political comeback. He has no intention of running in the 2020 special election that would allow him to serve out the remainder of McCain’s term. The only question is whether he’ll stick around until 2020 or leave as soon as next January to make room for someone who does plan to run for McCain’s former seat.