Democratic Senators-elect Andy Kim of New Jersey and Adam Schiff of California were appointed to the upper chamber of Congress three weeks early on Sunday following their election wins last month.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat, announced on Sunday that he appointed Kim to the U.S. Senate following the official certification of the 2024 election results by the state board of canvassers and Sen. George Helmy's resignation on Thursday. Helmy, a former chief of staff to Murphy, was sworn into the Senate in September after Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was convicted in a federal corruption trial and resigned from the Senate a month prior.

Kim defeated GOP businessman Curtis Bashaw by nearly 10 percentage points in November's election. 

"Today, I am appointing Senator-elect Andy Kim to the United States Senate so he can begin his term in office before the new year begins," Murphy said in a statement. "Taking this step will allow Senator Kim to embark on the smoothest possible transition into his new role so he can hit the ground running serving the people of New Jersey."

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, meanwhile, appointed Schiff on Sunday to complete the remainder of the term of Sen. Laphonza Butler. 

Butler, the former EMILY’s List president who was tapped in 2023 to serve the rest of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein's term, resigned on Saturday. 

"When Senator Laphonza Butler took her seat in the Senate a year ago, she brought with her a lifetime of lessons learned from organizing and advocating for opportunity and justice," Newsom said. "In just a short time, she has left an indelible mark — proving that true leadership isn’t measured by the length of service, but by the depth of impact." 

"Laphonza has never shied away from fighting for what’s right. She works not for recognition, but for the greater good — a commitment that began long before her time in the Senate and will continue well beyond it," Newsom added. "Thank you, Senator Butler, for your dedication and service and for honoring the life and legacy of the late Diane Feinstein, a legacy I’m confident Senator-elect Schiff will also carry forward."

Schiff defeated GOP candidate and former L.A. Dodgers star Steve Garvey by more than 17 percentage points on Election Day. 

Schiff and Kim are both expected to be sworn into the Senate on Monday. 

Murphy congratulated Kim "for making history as the first Asian American Senator from New Jersey and as the first Korean American Senator in the nation." 

"His election represents a proud milestone –  not just for our great state, but for our entire country," Murphy said. "I look forward to working with Senator Kim to continue lowering costs for New Jerseyans, defending our fundamental freedoms, and building a stronger and fairer state for every family."

Kim, who represented New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District in the House, said it is an honor "to get to represent the state that gave my family a chance at the American Dream in the U.S. Senate." 

"It’s a dream that remains out of reach for too many of our neighbors, and one that I’m ready on day one to fight for," Kim said. "I want to thank Governor Murphy and Senator Helmy for ensuring that New Jersey was well represented during this transition, and look forward to getting to work for the people."

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In a statement announcing his resignation Thursday, Helmy said he and Kim "have worked closely since his being elected to ensure a seamless transition and I have made myself readily available over the coming weeks to support this process." 

"It has been the honor of a lifetime representing the people of New Jersey in the Senate, and I am eternally grateful to Governor Murphy for entrusting me with this responsibility," Helmy said. "The voters of New Jersey made the right decision in November to elect Andy Kim to serve as their United States Senator. Having known him for nearly a decade now, I can attest to Senator Kim’s great dedication, character, and empathy towards the people of New Jersey." 

In his brief 85 days in office, Helmy touted how he introduced and co-sponsored over 30 bills, including five resolutions that passed the Senate Chamber, maintained a perfect voting record, including the confirmation of 20 federal judicial nominees, "advocated for youth mental health and supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon," and successfully nominated 48 New Jersey candidates to the four United States Military Academies.

Menendez was convicted in July on all 16 counts he faced in a federal corruption trial. Prosecutors alleged he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes, including gold, cash, and a Mercedes-Benz, in exchange for using his influence to meddle in state and federal investigations regarding three businessmen. The now-former senator is alleged to have also helped one friend obtain a multi-million-dollar deal with a Qatari investment fund and another retain a contract to provide halal meat to Egypt.

Menendez asked for a new trial and for his conviction to be dismissed last week, citing what he argued was improper evidence viewed by jurors during deliberations. 

Sen. Marsha Blackburn will roll out a package of legislation backing up Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) objectives, as Republican lawmakers launch legislative efforts to rally behind the cost-cutting efforts. 

The Tennessee Republican announced her plans to unveil the "DOGE Acts" in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. They would seek to move federal agencies out of Washington, D.C., freeze federal hiring and salaries for one year, and get federal workers back in the office.

The GOP senator will reportedly unveil a series of measures that will mirror more of the framework being pushed by the new agency to cut government spending, according to the senators' spokesperson.

"I will be introducing legislation that coincides with @DOGE’s plan to make the federal government more efficient," Blackburn said in a post on X. 

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"My DOGE Act will freeze federal hiring, begin the process to relocate agencies out of the D.C. swamp, and establish a merit-based salary system for the federal workforce," Blackburn said. 

A spokesperson for the senator later revealed that she plans to announce several of these bills.

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"Senator Blackburn is planning to introduce a package of bills – known as the DOGE Acts – aimed at holding the federal government more accountable for managing taxpayer dollars next week," Blackburn’s spokesperson said in a statement, the Hill reported. "The DOGE Acts coincides with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s plan to make the federal government more efficient."

Musk responded to the senator's tweet, writing "thank you" in a post.

The announcement came after Musk and Ramaswamy, the pair appointed by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the efforts, spent the day meeting with lawmakers to discuss cost-cutting opportunities and objectives.

Lawmakers told Fox News Digital that they were "very impressed" with the DOGE framework following their meetings with the duo.

Along with Blackburn's legislative plans, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate's DOGE Caucus, unveiled a 60-page cost-cutting proposal during a meeting with GOP senators and Ramaswamy on Thursday.

The DOGE efforts have already gained bipartisan support from Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., joining the House's GOP-led congressional caucus. Ahead of the meeting with Congress, Musk was asked whether he wanted Democratic members to be part of DOGE conversations, to which he was heard answering, "Yes."

Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming announced a bid to unseat Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican who voted to convict following the House impeachment vote against former President Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Fleming, a former U.S. congressman, was one of the founders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, according to a press release about his Senate bid.

"Senator Cassidy has failed the people of Louisiana," Fleming said, according to the press release. 

"I will fight to bring real, conservative solutions to the U.S. Senate, I will not cut-and-run on these conservative principles, and I will stand and work with President Trump like I have many times before," he declared.

A Cassidy spokesman said in a statement to Fox News Digital, "This week, Senator Cassidy met with President Trump's VA nominee, secured tax relief for the victims of natural disasters in Louisiana and elsewhere, passed bills to reduce maternal mortality and to make it easier to donate to Veterans organizations, pushed Chuck Schumer to hold a vote to repeal WEP and GPO, and continues to work on important legislation. The time will come to focus on the campaign, and when that happens, he will see who is still in the race."

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Fleming held posts in Trump's prior administration.

"I cannot fully express the deep sense of pride I have, having served President Trump in the West Wing of the White House as he was literally fighting for his political life against those who were attacking him and turning their backs on him," Fleming noted, "but the opportunity to stand with him for the principles of America First is why I seek to serve the citizens of Louisiana in the United States Senate."

Trump endorsed Cassidy for re-election in 2020, before the lawmaker became one of the Senate Republicans who voted to convict after the House impeachment vote against Trump in early 2021.

That Senate vote took place after Trump had already departed from office, and the number of senators who voted to convict failed to reach the threshold necessary for a conviction.

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Trump lambasted Cassidy in posts on Truth Social earlier this year.

"One of the worst Senators in the United States Senate is, without question, Bill Cassidy, A TOTAL FLAKE, Republican though he may be," Trump declared on April 1.

"Bill Cassidy is now shunned in his own State as a disloyal lightweight, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch," Trump declared in another post.

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Cassidy's current Senate term ends in early 2027.

Fleming previously ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2016.

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, is ramping up his pitch to lead the Pentagon with back-to-back meetings on Capitol Hill.

Since his nomination, Hegseth has been meeting privately with senators in Washington, D.C., in an effort to earn their support ahead of his confirmation hearing next year.

Hegseth was back on the Hill for a second day on Wednesday, meeting first with incoming Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who is set to be the Armed Services Committee chair, ahead of a crucial meeting with incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. 

Following his private meeting with Thune, Hegseth told reporters that "the meeting was great." 

The nominee has faced a series of drinking and sexual misconduct allegations, all of which he has denied, since being tapped for the top administration role.

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An email was recently leaked from Penelope Hegseth, Pete Hegseth's mother, where she was critical of his past relationships with women. However, she joined "Fox and Friends" Wednesday morning to set the record straight and "tell the truth to the senators on the hill, especially our female senators."

Penelope Hegseth said she wrote the email in an impassioned moment after her son's divorce, but apologized hours after sending it. Hegseth's mother also said she did not believe any of the accusations against him.

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Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump is reportedly considering nominating Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as Defense Secretary in place of Hegseth amid the allegations against him.

But Hegseth brushed off the potential replacement, telling reporters that he spoke with Trump on Wednesday morning, who reportedly told him to "keep going, keep fighting."

"Why would I back down?" Hegseth said. "I have always been a fighter. I am here for the war fighters."

Hegseth added that he would be "meeting all day with senators."

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, published Wednesday afternoon, Hegseth outlined his military service and his time working with veterans after leaving the Army.

"I’ve been through a lot: combat tours, job changes, divorces and family challenges," Hegseth wrote, before bashing the press for using "anonymous sources to try to discredit" him.

"Talk to those who served with me in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan or the National Guard. They support me, and I’m honored by that," Hegseth wrote. "I have never backed down from a fight and won’t back down from this one. I am grateful President-elect Trump chose me to lead the Defense Department, and I look forward to an honest confirmation hearing with our distinguished senators—not a show trial in the press.  

Fox News' Bret Baier, Paul Steinhauser and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

NEWFIELDS, N.H. – After eight years in office, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire is in his final weeks steering New England's only swing state.

Sununu announced last year that he wouldn’t seek an unprecedented fifth two-year term as governor. New Hampshire and Vermont are the only two states in the nation to hold gubernatorial elections every two years.

And he's leaving office on a high note, with his approval ratings remaining firmly in positive territory.

So what's next for the 50-year-old Sununu, who eight years ago, when first elected, was the nation's youngest governor?

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"I'm excited to get back to the private sector. I like businesses, I like deal sourcing," the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview. "I'm not sure exactly what the private sector is going to bring, but I think it's going to be pretty exciting."

New Hampshire, a perennial swing state, will likely have a competitive Senate contest in 2026 when longtime Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor, is up for re-election. And Sununu is likely to be courted by national Republicans to run for the Senate.

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But Sununu reiterated what he told Fox News Digital in July.

"Definitely ruling out running for the Senate in 2026. Yeah, definitely not on my dance card," he said.

But the governor predicted that Republicans will "have a good candidate. There's no question about it. A couple of different folks that might be interested in running. I think that'd be fantastic. We've had an all-Democrat [congressional] delegation for a long time. I think the people in the state… would love a different voice, would love just some sort of change."

Sununu, one of the more recognizable governors nationwide thanks to his regular appearances the past few years on the Sunday talk shows and cable news networks, mulled a Republican presidential nomination run before announcing a year and a half ago that he wouldn't seek the White House in 2024.

Asked if there's another run for office in his future, the governor said he's "not thinking about that at all, excited for the private sector. And that's all… that's in my windshield."

But he didn't entirely shut the door, adding, "We'll see what political chapters write themselves down the road."

Sununu will be succeeded as New Hampshire governor by Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte, a fellow Republican and former state attorney general and former U.S. senator.

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The governor was a top surrogate on the campaign trail and on the airwaves for Ayotte, who pledged to continue the Sununu agenda.

Asked if Ayotte's nearly nine and half point win over former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, the Democratic Party gubernatorial nominee, was also a victory for him, Sununu said, "It was a victory for New Hampshire."

"Kelly's going to be phenomenal. She has that experience as an attorney general, as U.S. senator. She understands how the systems work," Sununu emphasized. "Our transition is already going incredibly smoothly; discussions virtually every single day about all aspects of government, where it's going, how to build good teams and, most importantly… the opportunities to listen to what's happening in the communities."

Asked if he'd be offering advice to his successor, Sununu said "she'll have my cell number. I don't know if she'll need it, because I think she's going to be fantastic on her own, but she'll always have my cell number."

Sununu pointed to John Lynch and now-Sen. Maggie Hassan, his Democratic predecessors as governor, who Sununu said shared their cellphone numbers with him. He noted, "We want New Hampshire to be successful. So, it's not just me helping Kelly out. It is always a team effort. She's going to have a host of people that she can lean on for any advice when she needs it."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a lawsuit Monday over the counting of dozens of provisional ballots in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, alleging that rejecting the ballots violates both the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution and other protections for voters.

The lawsuit, which the DSCC filed in state court against the Bucks County Board of Elections on behalf of Sen. Bob Casey, is the latest in a flurry of legal action in the Keystone State as it begins its official Senate election recount. 

The case centers on 74 provisional ballots in Bucks County that were disqualified because they lacked an inner "secrecy envelope" required for provisional ballots in the state.

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Lawyers for the Democratic Party argued in the court filing that the provisional ballot errors were the "direct result" of inaccurate instructions from poll workers, rather than the voters themselves, and therefore violated both the due process clause and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which states that "an individual's provisional ballot "shall be counted... in accordance with state law" if election officials determine that the individual is eligible to vote.  

By excluding these provisional ballots that were the result of poll worker errors, lawyers argued, the Bucks County Board of Elections "unlawfully disenfranchises" voters and harms Casey’s electoral prospects.

The lawsuit centers on just 74 ballots, making it unlikely it will have any significant impact on the recount in Pennsylvania. 

But it comes amid a flurry of recent lawsuits in the Keystone State, where Republican candidate David McCormick narrowly edged out Casey by just 17,000 votes, according to unofficial data from the Department of State – putting Casey well within the 0.5% margin of error required under Pennsylvania law to trigger an automatic recount. 

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The Senate recount began Monday, and will continue through Nov. 26.

Republican Party officials have argued that the results have been decisive and that Casey lacks any achievable path to victory.

They have also criticized Casey for declining to waive the recount, noting that it will cost taxpayers an estimated $1 million. 

McCormick, for his part, called for a recount of his own in 2022 after he was beaten in the Republican Senate primary by TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz.

News of the lawsuit comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots with incorrect or missing dates cannot be counted in the 2024 election, delivering a victory to Republican Party officials as they moved to aggressively defend their narrow Senate victory.

Casey's campaign used news of the DSCC lawsuit to reiterate their criticism of the many Republican-led lawsuits that have been filed in the commonwealth, and which they have suggested risk disenfranchising voters.

"Thousands of Pennsylvanians’ votes are in question across the commonwealth as David McCormick and national Republicans work to throw out ballots cast by eligible voters and accepted by county election boards," a spokesperson for the campaign told Fox News Digital.

Casey will "continue to fight back against efforts to disenfranchise voters to ensure Pennsylvanians’ voices are heard and that eligible voters can participate in our democracy," the spokesperson added.

The DSCC did not immediately respond to Fox News's request for comment on the lawsuit.