“I know that our old colleague is looking down at this moment with pride now that her seat is in good hands,” Schumer said.

As the House devolved into chaos Tuesday over the future of the speakership, the mood in the Senate was decidedly more buoyant as California Democrat Laphonza Butler was sworn in to replace the late Dianne Feinstein, who died last week.

Butler entered the chamber to cheers from her family in the gallery, surrounded by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., as she was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris.