In Transition

Vice President-elect Joseph Biden's official letter of resignation from the Senate was read into the record this afternoon on the Senate floor. Majority Leader Harry Reid said, 'What a sad but happy say it is to have this letter read."

Biden's Delaware seat is being taken by his long-time advisor Ted Kaufman. The 69-year-old Kaufman does not, however, plan to run in 2010, when Delaware will hold a special election to fill the remaining four years of the six-year term that Biden won Nov. 4, when he was simultaneously elected vice president. Delaware is one of several states that allows a candidate on the national ticket to run for another office at the same time.

Kaufman's willingness to serve a foreshortened tenure could pave the way for Beau Biden, the eldest son of the six-term senator, to seek the Senate seat in 2010 after he completes his current tour of duty in Iraq with the Delaware Army National Guard. Biden, who will turn 40 years old in February, was elected in 2006 to a four-year term as state Attorney General.

-- Kate Hunter