Party leaders of the U.S. Senate
Schumer
Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Durbin
Majority Whip
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
McConnell
Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Thune
Minority Whip
John Thune (R-SD)

The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and people of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as a chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.

By Senate precedent, the presiding officer gives the majority leader priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate. The majority leader serves as the chief representative of their party in the Senate, and is considered the most powerful member of the Senate. They also serve as the chief representative of their party in the entire Congress if the House of Representatives, and thus the office of the speaker of the House, is controlled by the opposition party. The Senate's executive and legislative business is also managed and scheduled by the majority leader.

The assistant majority leader and assistant minority leader of the United States Senate, commonly called whips, are the second-ranking members of each party's leadership. The main function of the majority and minority whips is to gather votes of their respective parties on major issues. As the second-ranking members of Senate leadership, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader.

Current floor leaders

The Senate is currently composed of 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 3 independents; all the independents caucus with the Democrats.

The current leaders are Senators Chuck Schumer (D) of New York and Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky.[1] The current assistant leaders, or whips, are Senators Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and John Thune (R) of South Dakota.

History

By at least 1850, parties in each chamber of Congress began naming chairs, and while conference and caucus chairs carried very little authority, the Senate party floor leader positions arose from the position of conference chair.[2] Senate Democrats began the practice of electing their floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority. John W. Kern was a Democratic senator from Indiana. While the title was not official, the Senate website identifies Kern as the first Senate party leader, serving in that capacity from 1913 through 1917 (and in turn, the first Senate Democratic leader), while serving concurrently as chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.[3] In 1925, the Republicans (who were in the majority at the time) also adopted this language when Charles Curtis became the first (official) majority leader,[4] although his immediate predecessor Henry Cabot Lodge is considered the first (unofficial) Senate majority leader.

The United States Constitution designates the Vice President of the United States as president of the Senate. The Constitution also calls for a president pro tempore, to serve as the presiding officer when the president of the Senate (the vice president) is absent. In practice, neither the vice president nor the president pro tempore—customarily the most senior (longest-serving) senator in the majority party—actually presides over the Senate on a daily basis; that task is given to junior senators of the majority party. Since the vice president may be of a different party from the majority and is not a Senate member subject to discipline, the rules of procedure of the Senate give the Vice President no power beyond the presiding role. For these reasons, it is the majority leader who, in practice, manages the Senate. This is in contrast to the House of Representatives, where the elected speaker of the House has a great deal of discretionary power and generally presides over votes on legislative bills.

List of party leaders

The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920. The Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925.[5]

Congress Dates Democratic whip Democratic leader Majority Republican leader Republican whip
63rd May 28, 1913 –
March 4, 1915		 J. Hamilton Lewis None Democratic
← majority		 None None
64th March 4, 1915 –
December 6, 1915
December 6, 1915 –
December 13, 1915		 James Wadsworth
December 13, 1915 –
March 4, 1917		 Charles Curtis
65th March 4, 1917 –
March 4, 1919
66th March 4, 1919 –
April 27, 1920		 Peter Gerry Republican
majority →		 Henry Cabot Lodge
Unofficial
April 27, 1920 –
March 4, 1921		 Oscar Underwood
67th March 4, 1921 –
March 4, 1923
68th March 4, 1923 –
December 3, 1923
December 3, 1923 –
November 9, 1924		 Joseph T. Robinson
November 9, 1924 –
March 4, 1925		 Charles Curtis
Acting		 Wesley Jones
Acting
69th March 4, 1925 –
March 4, 1927		 Charles Curtis Wesley Jones
70th March 4, 1927 –
March 4, 1929
71st March 4, 1929 –
March 4, 1931		 Morris Sheppard James E. Watson Simeon Fess
72nd March 4, 1931 –
March 4, 1933
73rd March 4, 1933 –
January 3, 1935		 J. Hamilton Lewis Democratic
← majority		 Charles L. McNary Felix Hebert
74th January 3, 1935 –
January 3, 1937		 None[lower-alpha 1]
75th January 3, 1937 –
July 14, 1937
July 14, 1937 –
January 3, 1939		 Alben W. Barkley
76th January 3, 1939 –
April 9, 1939
April 9, 1939 –
January 3, 1940		 Sherman Minton
January 3, 1940 –
January 3, 1941		 Warren Austin
Acting
77th January 3, 1941 –
January 3, 1943		 J. Lister Hill Charles L. McNary
78th January 3, 1943 –
February 25, 1944		 Kenneth Wherry
February 25, 1944 –
January 3, 1945		 Wallace H. White
Acting
79th January 3, 1945 –
January 3, 1947		 Wallace H. White
80th January 3, 1947 –
January 3, 1949		 Scott W. Lucas Republican
majority →
81st January 3, 1949 –
January 3, 1951		 Francis Myers Scott W. Lucas Democratic
← majority		 Kenneth S. Wherry Leverett Saltonstall
82nd January 3, 1951 –
January 3, 1952		 Lyndon B. Johnson Ernest McFarland
January 3, 1952 –
January 3, 1953		 Styles Bridges
83rd January 3, 1953 –
July 31, 1953		 Earle Clements Lyndon B. Johnson Republican
majority →		 Robert A. Taft
August 3, 1953 –
January 3, 1955		 William Knowland
84th January 3, 1955 –
January 3, 1957		 Democratic
← majority
85th January 3, 1957 –
January 3, 1959		 Mike Mansfield Everett Dirksen
86th January 3, 1959 –
January 3, 1961		 Everett Dirksen Thomas Kuchel
87th January 3, 1961 –
January 3, 1963		 Hubert Humphrey Mike Mansfield
88th January 3, 1963 –
January 3, 1965
89th January 3, 1965 –
January 3, 1967		 Russell B. Long
90th January 3, 1967 –
January 3, 1969
91st January 3, 1969 –
September 7, 1969		 Ted Kennedy Hugh Scott
September 24, 1969 –
January 3, 1971		 Hugh Scott Robert Griffin
92nd January 3, 1971 –
January 3, 1973		 Robert Byrd
93rd January 3, 1973 –
January 3, 1975
94th January 3, 1975 –
January 3, 1977
95th January 3, 1977 –
January 3, 1979		 Alan Cranston Robert Byrd Howard Baker Ted Stevens
96th January 3, 1979 –
November 1, 1979
November 1, 1979 –
March 5, 1980		 Ted Stevens
Acting
March 5, 1980 –
January 3, 1981		 Howard Baker
97th January 3, 1981 –
January 3, 1983		 Republican
majority →
98th January 3, 1983 –
January 3, 1985
99th January 3, 1985 –
January 3, 1987		 Bob Dole Alan Simpson
100th January 3, 1987 –
January 3, 1989		 Democratic
← majority
101st January 3, 1989 –
January 3, 1991		 George Mitchell
102nd January 3, 1991 –
January 3, 1993		 Wendell Ford
103rd January 3, 1993 –
January 3, 1995
104th January 3, 1995 –
June 12, 1996		 Tom Daschle Republican
majority →		 Trent Lott
June 12, 1996 –
January 3, 1997		 Trent Lott Don Nickles
105th January 3, 1997 –
January 3, 1999
106th January 3, 1999 –
January 3, 2001		 Harry Reid
107th January 3, 2001 –
January 20, 2001		 Democratic
← majority
January 20, 2001 –
June 6, 2001		 Republican
majority →
June 6, 2001 –
November 23, 2002		 Democratic
← majority
November 23, 2002 –
January 3, 2003
[lower-alpha 2]
Republican

majority →
108th January 3, 2003 –
January 3, 2005		 Bill Frist Mitch McConnell
109th January 3, 2005 –
January 3, 2007		 Dick Durbin Harry Reid
110th January 3, 2007 –
December 18, 2007		 Democratic
← majority		 Mitch McConnell Trent Lott
December 19, 2007 –
January 3, 2009		 Jon Kyl
111th January 3, 2009 –
January 3, 2011
112th January 3, 2011 –
January 3, 2013
113th January 3, 2013 –
January 3, 2015		 John Cornyn
114th January 3, 2015 –
January 3, 2017		 Republican
majority →
115th January 3, 2017 –
January 3, 2019		 Chuck Schumer
116th January 3, 2019 –
January 3, 2021		 John Thune
117th January 3, 2021 –
January 20, 2021
January 20, 2021 –
January 3, 2023		 Democratic
← majority
118th January 3, 2023 –
January 3, 2025
Congress Dates Democratic whip Democratic leader Majority Republican leader Republican whip

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ No Republican whips were appointed from 1935 to 1944 since the Senate had only 17 Republicans following the landslide reelection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. Accordingly, the minutes of the Republican Conference for the period state: "On motion of Senator Hastings, duly seconded and carried, it was agreed that no Assistant Leader or Whip be elected but that the chairman be authorized to appoint Senators from time to time to assist him in taking charge of the interests of the minority." A note attached to the conference minutes added: "The chairman of the conference, Senator McNary, apparently appointed Senator Austin of Vermont as assistant leader in 1943 and 1944, until the conference adopted Rules of Organization."[6]
  2. ↑ Between November 23, 2002, and January 3, 2003, during the 107th Congress, Democrats remained in control, despite a Republican majority resulting from Jim Talent's special election victory in Missouri. There was no reorganization as the Senate was not in session.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Democrats Take Narrow Control of US Senate as Three New Members Sworn In | Voice of America - English". voanews.com. VOA. January 20, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  2. ↑ Heitshusen, Valerie (September 4, 2019). Party Leaders in the United States Congress, 1789-2019 (PDF) (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. i. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Majority and Minority Leaders". senate.gov. United States Senate. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Senate Leader". senate.gov. United States Senate. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Majority and Minority Leaders". United States Senate. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  6. ↑ Party Whips Archived March 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, via Senate.gov
  7. ↑ Party Division in the Senate, 1789–present, via Senate.gov
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