Washington — Sen. Al Franken bade farewell to Capitol Hill on Thursday with a lengthy broadside against the policies of the Trump administration and a call for politicians to commit themselves to “honesty in public discourse.”

The speech put to rest questions about whether Franken, D-Minn., would follow through on his promise to resign over more than a half-dozen allegations that he had touched women inappropriately.

Until Wednesday, Franken had not announced the date he would leave the Senate, and at least two Democratic colleagues — Sens. Joe Manchin III, W.Va., and Patrick Leahy, Vt., — recently said that he should reverse his decision.

In his farewell address, Franken lamented what he described as the degradation of truth in the national political debate and the hyper-partisan environment this has produced. He will resign his seat on Jan. 2 and his successor, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, D, is scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 3.

“As I leave the Senate, I have to admit that it feels like we’re losing the war for truth,” Franken said in his final speech on the Senate floor. “Maybe it’s already lost. If that’s what happens, then we have lost the ability to have the kinds of arguments that help build consensus.”

As Republicans celebrated the passage of their tax plan in another part of the Capitol, Franken denounced the bill as a means of “showering corporations and wealthy donors with tax breaks and special favors.”

“The Republican tax bill represents a slap in the face to those forgotten men and women” mentioned by President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, he said. “I guess the president forgot about them.”

Franken is one of seven lawmakers who in the past three months have resigned or decided not to run for reelection after allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment.