Democratic Conference Chairman of the United States Senate

United States Senate
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History of the United States Senate
Members
Current members (by seniority by age by class) Former members Hill committees (DSCC NRSC) U.S. Vice President President pro tempore (list) Presiding officer Party leaders / Assistants Party leadership of the United States Senate Democratic Caucus Republican Conference
Politics and procedure
Advice and consent Closed session (list) Cloture Committees (list) Executive session Morning business Filibuster Quorum Quorum call Recess appointment Salaries Saxbe fix Seal Holds Senatorial courtesy Standing Rules Traditions Unanimous consent Vice Presidents' tie-breaking votes
Places
United States Capitol Senate chamber Senate office buildings (Dirksen Hart Russell)
v t e

The Senate Democratic Caucus (or Conference) is the formal organization of the current 53 Democratic Senators in the United States Senate. In the 113th Congress, the Democratic Caucus additionally includes two independent senators who formally caucus with the Democrats for the purpose of committee assignments and Senate organization, bringing the total to 55 members. The primary organizational front for Democrats in the Senate, its primary function is communicating the party's message to and unifying all of its members. Caucus leadership consists of Senator Harry Reid (NV) as Chairman and Senate Majority Leader, Senator Dick Durbin (IL) as Whip or Assistant Majority Leader, Senator Charles Schumer (NY) as Vice-Chairman, and Senator Patty Murray (WA) as Secretary. The two independent members are Senators Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.

1 History
2 List of caucus chairmen
3 Vice Chairmanship
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links

History

The Caucus was formally organized on March 6, 1903, electing a chairman to preside over its members and a secretary to keep minutes. Until that time, the caucus was often disorganized, philosophically divided, and had neither firm written rules of governance nor a clear mission.

List of caucus chairmen

Dates	Senator	State	Notes
…	…	…
-1877	John W. Stevenson	Kentucky
1877–1881	William A. Wallace	Pennsylvania
1881–1885	George H. Pendleton	Ohio
1885–1890	James B. Beck	Kentucky
1890–1898	Arthur P. Gorman	Maryland
1898–1899	David Turpie	Indiana
1899–1903	James K. Jones	Arkansas
1903–1906	Arthur P. Gorman	Maryland
1906–1907	Joseph C. S. Blackburn	Kentucky
1907–1909	Charles A. Culberson	Texas
1909–1911	Hernando D. Money	Mississippi
1911–1913	Thomas S. Martin	Virginia
1913–1917	John Worth Kern	Indiana
1917–1919	Thomas S. Martin	Virginia
1920–1923	Oscar W. Underwood	Alabama	Also Democratic floor leader
1923–1937	Joseph T. Robinson	Arkansas	Also Democratic floor leader
1937–1949	Alben W. Barkley	Kentucky	Also Democratic floor leader
1949–1951	Scott W. Lucas	Illinois	Also Democratic floor leader
1951–1953	Ernest W. McFarland	Arizona	Also Democratic floor leader
1953–1961	Lyndon Johnson	Texas	Also Democratic floor leader
1961–1977	Mike Mansfield	Montana	Also Democratic floor leader
1977–1989	Robert Byrd	West Virginia	Also Democratic floor leader
1989–1995	George J. Mitchell	Maine	Also Democratic floor leader
1995–2005	Tom Daschle	South Dakota	Also Democratic floor leader
2005–present	Harry Reid	Nevada	Also Democratic floor leader

Vice Chairmanship

After the victory of Democrats in the midterm elections of 2006, an overwhelming majority of the caucus thought of awarding Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a position in the hierarchy for defeating six incumbent Republicans. In response, Democratic Leader Harry Reid created the position of the Vice Chairman, making it the third-ranking Democratic position, after Leader and Whip.

Chuck Schumer (2007–Present)

References

Bibliography

Donald A. Ritchie (ed). Minutes of the Senate Democratic Conference: Fifty-eighth through Eighty-eighth Congress, 1903-1964. Washington, D.C., GPO, 1999. Available online in Text format.

External links

Official Home of the Senate Democratic Caucus on the Internet
Senate Party Leadership -- Much of this article's content was adapted from this useful public domain resource.
First Formal Organization of the Senate Democratic Caucus

Template:Tnavbar-collapsible
Senate Republican Conference	Senate	Senate Democratic Caucus
Conference Chair	Chairperson	Caucus Chair
Conference Vice-Chair/Secretary	Secretary	Caucus Secretary
Policy Committee Chair	Policy Committee	Policy Committee Chair
House Republican Conference	House of Representatives	House Democratic Caucus
Conference Chair	Presiding Officer	Caucus Chair
Vice-Chair	Vice Chair	Vice-Chair / Secretary
Conference Secretary	Secretary	Vice-Chair / Secretary
Policy Committee Chair	Policy Committee	Policy Committee Co-Chair

United States Congress

Members and leaders

Members

Current	By length of service Freshmen Youngest members Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Delegates Longest-serving members ever

Senate	Current by seniority by age Dean of the Senate Former senators Living Oldest Earliest serving Earliest living Expelled or censured Classes Born outside the U.S.

House	Current by seniority by age Dean of the House Former representatives Living Oldest Living Earliest serving Expelled, censured, and reprimanded Deaths by year

Leaders

Senate	President (list) President pro tempore Majority and minority leaders Assistant party leaders Democratic Caucus (Chair Secretary Policy Committee Chair) Republican Conference (Chair Vice-Chair Policy Committee Chair)

House	Speaker Leaders Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group Democratic Caucus Republican Conference

Districts

Caucuses,
women and
minorities

Offices, employees, services, and the Capitol Complex

Legislative
offices

Offices

Senate	Library Curator Historical Pages

House	Congressional Ethics Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations Interparliamentary Affairs Law Revision Counsel

Employees

Senate	Secretary Chaplain Curator Historian Librarian Parliamentarian Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper

House	Chaplain Chief Administrative Officer Clerk Doorkeeper Floor Operations Floor Services Chief Historian Pages (Page Board) Parliamentarian Postmaster Reading Clerk Sergeant at Arms

Library of
Congress

Congressional Research Service (reports)
Copyright Office (Register of Copyrights)
Law Library
Poet Laureate
THOMAS
Adams Building
Jefferson Building
Madison Building

Government
Printing Office

Capitol

Office
buildings

Senate	Dirksen Hart Russell

House	Building Commission Cannon Ford Longworth O'Neill Rayburn

Other
facilities

Powers, privileges, procedure, committees, history, and media

Powers	Article I Copyright Commerce (Dormant) Contempt of Congress Declaration of war Impeachment Naturalization "Necessary and Proper" Power of enforcement Taxing/spending

Privileges and benefits	Salaries Franking Immunity

Procedure	Act of Congress (list) Appropriation bill Budget resolution Closed sessions (House) Closed sessions (Senate) Cloture Concurrent resolution Continuing resolution Dear colleague letter Discharge petition Engrossed bill Enrolled bill Expulsion Joint resolution Joint session (list) Lame duck session Majority of the majority Procedures (House) Reconciliation Rider Saxbe fix Sponsorship Suspension of the rules Unanimous consent Veto override

Senate-specific	Advice and consent Classes Executive communication Executive session Filibuster Jefferson's Manual Journal Nuclear option Presiding Officer Recess appointment Riddick's Senate Procedure Secret hold Senatorial courtesy Seniority Standing Rules Tie-breaking votes Traditions Treaty Clause

Committees	Chairman and ranking member Of the Whole Conference Discharge petition Hearings Markup Oversight Joint List (House) List (Senate) Select and special Standing Subcommittees Special

Items	Gavels Mace of the House

History	Divided government House Gerrymandering Party control Senate Senate election disputes

Media	C-SPAN Congressional Quarterly The Hill Politico Roll Call

Websites: House of Representatives; Senate

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Democratic Conference Chairman of the United States Senate