McConnell: 'Hard work awaits'; Senate to move to Keystone
By Associated Press
Jan 6, 2015 12:15 PM CST
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. pauses outside his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, as he prepares for the opening of the 114th Congress under GOP control. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)   (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told his colleagues that "a lot of hard work awaits." McConnell took the helm of the Senate Tuesday after Republicans formally assumed the majority.

McConnell's first order of business was to shepherd through several routine resolutions. One of them named Utah Republican Orrin Hatch as the Senate's president pro tempore, making him third in the line of presidential succession.

In brief remarks, McConnell said that along with the work "many important opportunities await too." He has said that the Senate's first bill would approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

Becoming majority leader has been the Kentucky senator's longtime goal after 30 years of service in the Senate.