Sen. Al Franken will resign on Jan. 2, the Minnesota Democrat's office said Wednesday.

Franken announced his intention to resign "in the coming weeks" in a speech on the Senate floor earlier this month, after multiple accusations from women of unwanted sexual advances. The majority of his colleagues called for his resignation after a seventh women came forward with allegations against him.

The announcement puts to rest any speculation that Franken might rescind his resignation. In recent days, several Democrats, led by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, have called on Franken to reverse his decision to leave before the Senate Ethics Committee could complete an investigation.

Minnesota's Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, tapped by Gov. Mark Dayton to serve as Franken's replacement, will be sworn in on Jan. 3, Franken's office said. Smith has announced her intention to run for the final two years of Franken's term in a special election in November.

"When I leave the Senate in a few weeks," Franken said Wednesday, "I will continue trying to be an educated citizen and an advocate and an activist."

He promised before his departure to give "a series of final speeches" on policy issues close to his heart.

"Before I go, I want to spend some time sharing what I have learned in a series of speeches focusing on the challenges I came to Washington to address," he said, "the challenges that my colleagues will continue to wrestle with, challenges that will determine not just what kind of political landscape we leave for the next generation of senators but what kind of country we leave for the next generation of Americans."

In announcing his decision to resign, Franken denied some of the allegations against him and said he recalled the incidents behind other accusations differently than the women making who alleged wrongdoing.