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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 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.
The Senate of the 118th Congress is composed in 2024 of 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 4 independents; all the independents caucus with the Democrats.
The leaders are Senators Chuck Schumer (D) of New York and Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky.[1] The assistant leaders, or whips, are Senators Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and John Thune (R) of South Dakota.
At first a Senate leader was an informal position usually an influential committee chairman, or a person of great eloquence, seniority, or wealth, such as Daniel Webster and Nelson Aldrich. 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 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. However, despite this new, formal leadership structure, the Senate leader initially had virtually no power. Since the Democrats were fatally divided into northern liberal and southern conservative blocs, the Democratic leader had even less power than his title suggested.
Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, the Democratic leader from 1923 to 1937, saw it as his responsibility not to lead the Democrats, but to work the Senate for the president's benefit, no matter who the president was. When Coolidge and Hoover were president, he assisted them in passing Republican legislation. Robinson helped end government operation of Muscle Shoals, helped pass the Hoover Tariff, and stymied a Senate investigation of the Power Trust. Robinson switched his own position on a drought relief program for farmers when Hoover made a proposal for a more modest measure. Alben Barkley called Robinson's cave-in "the most humiliating spectacle that could be brought about in an intelligent legislative body." When Franklin Roosevelt became president, Robinson followed the new president as loyally as he had followed Coolidge and Hoover. Robinson passed bills in the Hundred Days so quickly that Will Rogers joked "Congress doesn't pass legislation any more, they just wave at the bills as they go by.[5]
In 1937, the rule giving majority leader right of first recognition was created. With the addition of this rule, the Senate majority leader enjoyed far greater control over the agenda of which bills to be considered on the floor.
During Lyndon B. Johnson's tenure as Senate leader, the leader gained new powers over committee assignments.[6]
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.[citation needed]
Under a long-standing Senate precedent, motions or amendments by the majority leader is granted precedence over other motions by other senators. The majority leader can therefore make at any time a motion to proceed to the consideration of a bill on the Senate Calendar (which contains almost exclusively bills which have been reported by the committee they were assigned to); a motion to proceed may be agreed to either by unanimous consent or through the invocation of cloture. Conventionally, no senator other than the majority leader introduces motions to proceed, although every senator is theoretically allowed to. In addition, the majority leader can block consideration of amendments through a practice known as "filling the tree", and decides which members will fill each of the committee seats reserved to the majority party; members of committees are therefore often prone to following the instructions of the majority leader, and rarely place bills on the Senate Calendar without the latter's consent.[7]
The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920. The Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925.[8]
| Congress | Dates | Democratic whip | Democratic leader | Majority | Republican leader | Republican whip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63rd | May 28, 1913 – March 4, 1915 |
J. Hamilton Lewis (Illinois) |
None | Democratic ← majority |
None | None |
| 64th | March 4, 1915 – December 6, 1915 | |||||
| December 6, 1915 – December 13, 1915 |
James Wadsworth (New York) | |||||
| December 13, 1915 – March 4, 1917 |
Charles Curtis (Kansas) | |||||
| 65th | March 4, 1917 – March 4, 1919 | |||||
| 66th | March 4, 1919 – April 27, 1920 |
Peter Gerry (Rhode Island) |
Republican majority → |
Henry Cabot Lodge (Massachusetts, Unofficial) | ||
| April 27, 1920 – March 4, 1921 |
Oscar Underwood (Alabama) | |||||
| 67th | March 4, 1921 – March 4, 1923 | |||||
| 68th | March 4, 1923 – December 3, 1923 | |||||
| December 3, 1923 – November 9, 1924 |
Joseph T. Robinson (Arkansas) | |||||
| November 9, 1924 – March 4, 1925 |
Charles Curtis (Kansas, Acting) |
Wesley Jones (Washington, Acting) | ||||
| 69th | March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1927 |
Charles Curtis (Kansas) |
Wesley Jones (Washington) | |||
| 70th | March 4, 1927 – March 4, 1929 | |||||
| 71st | March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1931 |
Morris Sheppard (Texas) |
James E. Watson (Indiana) |
Simeon Fess (Ohio) | ||
| 72nd | March 4, 1931 – March 4, 1933 | |||||
| 73rd | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935 |
J. Hamilton Lewis (Illinois) |
Democratic ← majority |
Charles L. McNary (Oregon) |
Felix Hebert (Rhode Island) | |
| 74th | January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1937 |
None[a] | ||||
| 75th | January 3, 1937 – July 14, 1937 | |||||
| July 14, 1937 – January 3, 1939 |
Alben W. Barkley (Kentucky) | |||||
| 76th | January 3, 1939 – April 9, 1939 | |||||
| April 9, 1939 – January 3, 1940 |
Sherman Minton (Indiana) | |||||
| January 3, 1940 – January 3, 1941 |
Warren Austin (Vermont, Acting) | |||||
| 77th | January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943 |
J. Lister Hill (Alabama) |
Charles L. McNary (Oregon) | |||
| 78th | January 3, 1943 – February 25, 1944 |
Kenneth Wherry (Nebraska) | ||||
| February 25, 1944 – January 3, 1945 |
Wallace H. White (Maine, Acting) | |||||
| 79th | January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947 |
Wallace H. White (Maine) | ||||
| 80th | January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 |
Scott W. Lucas (Illinois) |
Republican majority → | |||
| 81st | January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951 |
Francis Myers (Pennsylvania) |
Scott W. Lucas (Illinois) |
Democratic ← majority |
Kenneth S. Wherry (Nebraska) |
Leverett Saltonstall (Massachusetts) |
| 82nd | January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1952 |
Lyndon B. Johnson (Texas) |
Ernest McFarland (Arizona) | |||
| January 3, 1952 – January 3, 1953 |
Styles Bridges (New Hampshire) | |||||
| 83rd | January 3, 1953 – July 31, 1953 |
Earle Clements (Kentucky) |
Lyndon B. Johnson (Texas) |
Republican majority → |
Robert A. Taft (Ohio) | |
| August 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955 |
William Knowland (California) | |||||
| 84th | January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1957 |
Democratic ← majority | ||||
| 85th | January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1959 |
Mike Mansfield (Montana) |
Everett Dirksen (Illinois) | |||
| 86th | January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1961 |
Everett Dirksen (Illinois) |
Thomas Kuchel (California) | |||
| 87th | January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963 |
Hubert Humphrey (Minnesota) |
Mike Mansfield (Montana) | |||
| 88th | January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965 | |||||
| 89th | January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967 |
Russell Long (Louisiana) | ||||
| 90th | January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1969 | |||||
| 91st | January 3, 1969 – September 7, 1969 |
Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts) |
Hugh Scott (Pennsylvania) | |||
| September 24, 1969 – January 3, 1971 |
Hugh Scott (Pennsylvania) |
Robert Griffin (Michigan) | ||||
| 92nd | January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973 |
Robert Byrd (West Virginia) | ||||
| 93rd | January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1975 | |||||
| 94th | January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1977 | |||||
| 95th | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979 |
Alan Cranston (California) |
Robert Byrd (West Virginia) |
Howard Baker (Tennessee) |
Ted Stevens (Alaska) | |
| 96th | January 3, 1979 – November 1, 1979 | |||||
| November 1, 1979 – March 5, 1980 |
Ted Stevens (Alaska, Acting) | |||||
| March 5, 1980 – January 3, 1981 |
Howard Baker (Tennessee) | |||||
| 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 (Kansas) |
Alan Simpson (Wyoming) | |||
| 100th | January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1989 |
Democratic ← majority | ||||
| 101st | January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1991 |
George Mitchell (Maine) | ||||
| 102nd | January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1993 |
Wendell Ford (Kentucky) | ||||
| 103rd | January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995 | |||||
| 104th | January 3, 1995 – June 12, 1996 |
Tom Daschle (South Dakota) |
Republican majority → |
Trent Lott (Mississippi) | ||
| June 12, 1996 – January 3, 1997 |
Trent Lott (Mississippi) |
Don Nickles (Oklahoma) | ||||
| 105th | January 3, 1997 – January 3, 1999 | |||||
| 106th | January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2001 |
Harry Reid (Nevada) | ||||
| 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 |
[b] Republican majority → | |||||
| 108th | January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005 |
Bill Frist (Tennessee) |
Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) | |||
| 109th | January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007 |
Dick Durbin (Illinois) |
Harry Reid (Nevada) | |||
| 110th | January 3, 2007 – December 18, 2007 |
Democratic ← majority |
Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) |
Trent Lott (Mississippi) | ||
| December 19, 2007 – January 3, 2009 |
Jon Kyl (Arizona) | |||||
| 111th | January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011 | |||||
| 112th | January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013 | |||||
| 113th | January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015 |
John Cornyn (Texas) | ||||
| 114th | January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017 |
Republican majority → | ||||
| 115th | January 3, 2017 – January 3, 2019 |
Chuck Schumer (New York) | ||||
| 116th | January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021 |
John Thune (South Dakota) | ||||
| 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 |
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