Senate Democratic Caucus
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Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use mdy dates
Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:United States Senate The Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate, sometimes referred to as the Democratic Conference, is the formal organization of all senators who are part of the Democratic Party in the United States Senate. For the makeup of the 119th Congress, the caucus additionally includes two independent senators (Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Angus King of Maine) who caucus with the Democrats, bringing the current total to 47 members. The central organizational front for Democrats in the Senate, its primary function is communicating the party's message to all of its members under a single banner. The present chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus is Chuck Schumer of New York.
Current leadership
Effective with the start of the 119th Congress, the conference leadership is as follows:
- Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer[1]
- Democratic Whip Dick Durbin[1]
- Chair of Steering and Policy Committee Amy Klobuchar[1]
- Chair of Strategic Communications Committee Cory Booker[1]
- Vice Chair of the Caucus Elizabeth Warren[1]
- Vice Chair of the Caucus Mark Warner[1]
- Chair of Outreach Bernie Sanders[1]
- Caucus Secretary Tammy Baldwin[1]
- Vice Chair of Outreach Catherine Cortez Masto[1]
- Deputy Caucus Secretary Brian SchatzTemplate:Efn[1]
- Deputy Caucus Secretary Chris Murphy[1]
- Vice Chair of Steering and Policy Committee Jeanne Shaheen[2]Template:Efn
- Vice Chair of Strategic Communications Committee Tina Smith[2]Template:Efn
History
The conference was formally organized on March 6, 1903, electing a chair to preside over its members and a secretary to keep minutes. Until that time, this caucus was often disorganized, philosophically divided and had neither firm written rules of governance nor a clear mission.
Chairs
Since Oscar Underwood's election in 1920, the chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus has also concurrently served as the floor leader as part of an unwritten tradition.
| Congress | Leader | State | Took office | Left office | Majority Leader | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43rd | File:John Stevenson.jpg | John W. Stevenson (1812–1886)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Kentucky | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 44th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 45th | File:William A. Wallace - Brady-Handy.jpg | William A. Wallace (1827–1896)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Pennsylvania | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 46th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 47th | File:GeorgeHPendleton.png | George H. Pendleton (1825–1889)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Ohio | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | |||||||
| 48th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 49th | File:James B. Beck - Brady-Handy.jpg | James B. Beck (1822–1890)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Kentucky | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 50th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 51st | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 51st | File:Arthur Pue Gorman.jpg | Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Maryland | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | ||
| 52nd | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 53rd | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1893–1895Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 54th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 55th | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 55th | File:David Turpie.jpg | David Turpie (1828–1909)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Indiana | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | ||
| 56th | File:James Jones.png | James Kimbrough Jones (1839–1908)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Arkansas | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 57th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| 58th | File:Arthur Pue Gorman.jpg | Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Maryland | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 59th | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| File:Jblackburn.jpg | Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (1838–1918)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Kentucky | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | |||
| 60th | File:Charles Allen Culberson.jpg | Charles Allen Culberson (1855–1925)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Texas | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 61st | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn | |||||
| File:Hernando Money - Brady-Handy.jpg | Hernando Money (1839–1912)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Mississippi | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | |||
| 62nd | File:Thomas Staples Martin.jpg | Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Virginia | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | UnknownTemplate:Efn |
| 63rd | File:JohnWKern.jpg | John W. Kern (1849–1917)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Indiana | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1913–1917Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 64th | |||||||
| 65th | File:Thomas Staples Martin.jpg | Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Virginia | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1917–1919Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 66th | rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Lodge 1919–1924Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 66th | File:HITCHCOCK, G.M. HONORABLE LCCN2016857525 (cropped).jpg | Gilbert HitchcockTemplate:Efn (1859–1934)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Nebraska | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | ||
| 66th | File:Oscar W. Underwood.jpg | Oscar Underwood (1862–1929)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Alabama | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | ||
| 67th | |||||||
| 68th | |||||||
| 68th | File:Joseph T. Robinson cropped.jpg | Joseph Taylor Robinson (1872–1937)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Arkansas | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Curtis 1924–1929Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 69th | |||||||
| 70th | |||||||
| 71st | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Watson 1929–1933Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 72nd | |||||||
| 73rd | rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1933–1937Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 74th | |||||||
| 75th | |||||||
| File:Alben Barkley, Vice-President.jpg | Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Kentucky | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | rowspan="5" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1937–1947Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
| 76th | |||||||
| 77th | |||||||
| 78th | |||||||
| 79th | |||||||
| 80th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | White 1947–1949Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 81st | File:ScottWikeLucas.jpg | Scott W. Lucas (1892–1968)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Illinois | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1949–1951Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 82nd | File:Mcfarland ernest.jpg | Ernest McFarland (1894–1984)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Arizona | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1951–1953Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 83rd | File:Senator Lyndon Johnson.jpg | Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Texas | Template:Dts | Template:DtsTemplate:Efn | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Taft 1953Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Knowland 1953–1955Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | ||||||
| 84th | rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1955–1961Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 85th | |||||||
| 86th | |||||||
| 87th | File:Mike mansfield cropped.jpg | Mike Mansfield (1903–2001)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Montana | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | rowspan="8" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1961–1977Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 88th | |||||||
| 89th | |||||||
| 90th | |||||||
| 91st | |||||||
| 92nd | |||||||
| 93rd | |||||||
| 94th | |||||||
| 95th | File:Robert Byrd official portrait.jpg | Robert Byrd (1917–2010)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
West Virginia | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1977–1981Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 96th | |||||||
| 97th | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Baker 1981–1985Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 98th | |||||||
| 99th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Dole 1985–1987Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 100th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1987–1989Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 101st | File:George Mitchell in Tel Aviv July 26, 2009.jpg | George J. Mitchell (born 1933)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Maine | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 1989–1995Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 102nd | |||||||
| 103rd | |||||||
| 104th | File:Tom Daschle, official Senate photo.jpg | Tom Daschle (born 1947)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
South Dakota | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Dole 1995–1996Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| 104th | rowspan="3" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Lott 1996–2001Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 105th | |||||||
| 106th | |||||||
| 107th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 2001Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Lott 2001Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | ||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 2001–2002Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | ||||||
| style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Lott 2002–2003Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | ||||||
| 108th | rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Frist 2003–2007Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 109th | File:Harry Reid official portrait 2009.jpg | Harry Reid (1939–2021)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Nevada | Template:Dts | Template:Dts | ||
| 110th | rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 2007–2015Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 111th | |||||||
| 112th | |||||||
| 113th | |||||||
| 114th | rowspan="4" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | McConnell 2015–2021Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
| 115th | File:Chuck Schumer official photo.jpg | Chuck Schumer (born 1950)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
New York | Template:Dts | Incumbent | ||
| 116th | |||||||
| 117th | |||||||
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Himself 2021–2025Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | ||||||
| 118th | |||||||
| 119th | style="background-color:Template:Party color;" | | Thune 2025–presentScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |||||
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Notes
Vice chairs
After the victory of Democrats in the midterm elections of 2006, an overwhelming majority in the conference wanted to reward Chuck Schumer, then the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, with a position in the leadership hierarchy.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". In response, then-Democratic Leader Harry Reid created the position of vice-chair when Democrats formally took control in 2007.[3] Schumer ascended to Reid's position following his retirement after the 2016 elections. The position was then split, with one co-chair awarded to Mark Warner and the other awarded to Elizabeth Warren.
| Congress | Vice Chair(s) | State | Term Start | Term End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 110th | January 3, 2007 | January 3, 2017 | ||
| 111th | ||||
| 112th | ||||
| 113th | ||||
| 114th | ||||
| 115th | January 3, 2017 | present | ||
| 116th | ||||
| 117th | ||||
| 118th | ||||
| 119th |
Caucus secretary
The United States Senate Democratic Conference Secretary, also called the Caucus Secretary was previously considered the number-three position, behind the party's floor leader and the party's whip, until in 2006, when Democratic leader Harry Reid created the new position of Vice-Chairman of the caucus. Now, the secretary is the fourth-highest ranking position. The conference secretary is responsible for taking notes and aiding the party leadership when senators of the party meet or caucus together.[4]
The first conference secretary was Sen. Edward W. Carmack of Tennessee, who was elected in March 1903.[5]
The current conference secretary is Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who assumed the office in January 2017.
| Congress | Secretary | State | Term Start | Term End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58th | March 6, 1903 | March 3, 1907 | ||
| 59th | ||||
| 60th | December 3, 1907Template:Efn | March 4, 1911 | ||
| 61st | ||||
| 62nd | March 4, 1911 | March 4, 1913 | ||
| 63rd | March 4, 1913 | March 3, 1915 | ||
| 64th | Willard Saulsbury Jr.
|
Delaware
|
March 3, 1915 | December 14, 1916 |
| December 14, 1916 | March 3, 1917 | |||
| 65th | March 4, 1917 | March 3, 1927 | ||
| 66th | ||||
| 67th | ||||
| 68th | ||||
| 69th | ||||
| 70th | March 4, 1927 | January 3, 1937 | ||
| 71st | ||||
| 72nd | ||||
| 73rd | ||||
| 74th | ||||
| 75th | January 3, 1937 | January 3, 1943 | ||
| 76th | ||||
| 77th | ||||
| 78th | Connecticut | January 3, 1943 | January 3, 1945 | |
| 79th | January 3, 1945 | July 28, 1952 | ||
| 80th | ||||
| 81st | ||||
| 82nd | ||||
| 83rd | January 3, 1953 | January 3, 1959 | ||
| 84th | ||||
| 85th | ||||
| 86th | Thomas Hennings
|
Missouri
|
January 3, 1959 | September 13, 1960 |
| September 3, 1960 | January 3, 1961 | |||
| 87th | George Smathers
|
Florida
|
January 3, 1961 | January 3, 1967 |
| 88th | ||||
| 89th | ||||
| 90th | January 3, 1967 | January 3, 1971 | ||
| 91st | ||||
| 92nd | January 3, 1971 | January 3, 1977 | ||
| 93rd | ||||
| 94th | ||||
| 95th | January 3, 1977 | January 3, 1989 | ||
| 96th | ||||
| 97th | ||||
| 98th | ||||
| 99th | ||||
| 100th | ||||
| 101st | January 3, 1989 | January 3, 1995 | ||
| 102nd | ||||
| 103rd | ||||
| 104th | January 3, 1995 | January 3, 2005 | ||
| 105th | ||||
| 106th | ||||
| 107th | ||||
| 108th | ||||
| 109th | January 3, 2005 | January 3, 2007 | ||
| 110th | January 3, 2007 | January 3, 2017 | ||
| 111th | ||||
| 112th | ||||
| 113th | ||||
| 114th | ||||
| 115th | January 3, 2017 | Incumbent | ||
| 116th | ||||
| 117th | ||||
| 118th | ||||
| 119th |
Deputy Caucus Secretary
On December 8, 2022, Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii was elected to the newly created position of Deputy Caucus Secretary, assuming the office at the beginning of the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023.[6] This was an elevation from his previous leadership role as Senate Democratic Chief Deputy Whip. On January 3, 2025, Chris Murphy was also appointed to this position.[7]
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Donald A. Ritchie (ed) (1999). Minutes of the Senate Democratic Conference: Fifty-eighth through Eighty-eighth Congress, 1903-1964. Washington, D.C. GPO. Available online in PDF or 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
| Senate Republican Conference | Senate | Senate Democratic Caucus |
|---|---|---|
| Conference Chair | Chair | 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 | Chair | Caucus Chair |
| Vice Chair | Vice Chair | [[Democratic Caucus Vice-Chairman of the United States House of Representatives|Vice-ChairTemplate:\ Secretary]] |
| Conference Secretary | Secretary | |
| Policy Committee Chair | Policy Committee | Policy Committee Co-Chair |
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