Scott Brown is on his way to Washington, D.C., and he expects to take the oath of office as the Junior Senator from Massachusetts Thursday:

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed the certification of election to make him the next U.S. senator.

Patrick signed the certification around 9:30 a.m. ET, which he was planning to do anyway on Thursday. Brown will be sworn in by Vice President Biden in a mock ceremony for the cameras at 5 p.m. ET.

Brown had originally planned to be sworn in next Thursday, but some potentially important votes are scheduled to be taken before then, so the Senator-elect decided to speed up the process of getting himself seated in the Senate chambers:

Among those votes are approvals of two of President Obama’s nominees — one to the National Labor Relations Board and another to the General Services Administration.

The vote of Craig Becker to the NLRB has raised objections from Republicans, who say they want to filibuster the man who reportedly does not believe employers should have a say in whether employees unionize.

Having Brown in the Senate potentially could allow Republicans to block the nomination.

Brown has made no secret of his intentions to stop President Obama’s health care reform agenda. He campaigned as the “41st vote” on ObamaCare, and his election has been taken as a warning by some Democrats who see the vote as a public affirmation of opposition to the plan.

It’s not clear how Brown will vote on some other administration priorities, including climate change, energy policy and judicial appointments, as he has stressed his independence, saying he does not intend to be a “rubber stamp” for Republican efforts to foil Democrat’s priorities.

- JP

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