Party leaders of the United States Senate

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 chamber. They are each elected to their posts 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. The majority leader serves as the chief representative of their party in the Senate and is considered the most powerful member of the chamber. 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.

Existing floor leaders The Senate of the 119th Congress is composed in 2025 of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 independents; both the independents caucus with the Democrats.

The current majority leader is Senator John Thune (Republican) of South Dakota, and the current minority leader is Senator Chuck Schumer (Democrat) of New York. The assistant leaders, or whips, are senators John Barrasso (Republican) of Wyoming and Dick Durbin (Democrat) of Illinois.

History 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.

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.

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, 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." Robinson, who had spent long hours studying Senate procedures and legislative issues, would in fact yield more influence than any of his party leader predecessors would, and would even expand and better define the power of a party leader's Senate Majority Leader post.

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.

Senatorial role of the vice president

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.

Powers of the majority leader Under a long-standing Senate precedent, motions or amendments by the majority leader are 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.

List of party leaders The Democratic Party first selected a leader in 1920. The Republican Party first formally designated a leader in 1925.

CongressDatesDemocratic whipDemocratic leaderMajorityRepublican leaderRepublican whip –March 4, 1915J. Hamilton LewisNoneDemocratic← majorityNoneNone –December 6, 1915 –December 13, 1915James Wadsworth –March 4, 1917Charles Curtis –March 4, 1919 –April 27, 1920Peter GerryRepublicanmajority →Henry Cabot Lodge –March 4, 1921Oscar Underwood –March 4, 1923 –December 3, 1923 –November 9, 1924Joseph T. RobinsonNovember 9, 1924 –March 4, 1925Charles CurtisWesley Jones –March 4, 1927Charles CurtisWesley Jones –March 4, 1929 –March 4, 1931Morris SheppardJames E. WatsonSimeon Fess –March 4, 1933 –January 3, 1935J. Hamilton LewisDemocratic← majorityCharles L. McNaryFelix Hebert –January 3, 1937None –July 14, 1937July 14, 1937 –January 3, 1939Alben W. BarkleyJanuary 3, 1939 –April 9, 1939April 9, 1939 –January 3, 1940Sherman MintonJanuary 3, 1940 –January 3, 1941Warren Austin –January 3, 1943J. Lister HillCharles L. McNary –February 25, 1944Kenneth WherryFebruary 25, 1944 –January 3, 1945Wallace H. White –January 3, 1947Wallace H. White –January 3, 1949Scott W. LucasRepublicanmajority → –January 3, 1951Francis MyersScott W. LucasDemocratic← majorityKenneth S. WherryLeverett Saltonstall –January 3, 1952Lyndon B. JohnsonErnest McFarland –January 3, 1953Styles Bridges –July 31, 1953Earle ClementsLyndon B. JohnsonRepublicanmajority →Robert A. Taft –January 3, 1955William Knowland –January 3, 1957Democratic← majority –January 3, 1959Mike MansfieldEverett Dirksen –January 3, 1961Everett DirksenThomas Kuchel –January 3, 1963Hubert HumphreyMike Mansfield –January 3, 1965 –January 3, 1967Russell Long –January 3, 1969 –September 7, 1969Ted KennedyHugh ScottJanuary 3, 1971Hugh ScottRobert Griffin –January 3, 1973Robert Byrd –January 3, 1975 –January 3, 1977 –January 3, 1979Alan CranstonRobert ByrdHoward BakerTed Stevens –November 1, 1979 –March 5, 1980Ted Stevens –January 3, 1981Howard Baker –January 3, 1983Republicanmajority → –January 3, 1985 –January 3, 1987Bob DoleAlan Simpson –January 3, 1989Democratic← majority –January 3, 1991George Mitchell –January 3, 1993Wendell Ford –January 3, 1995 –June 12, 1996Tom DaschleRepublicanmajority →Trent Lott –January 3, 1997Trent LottDon Nickles –January 3, 1999 –January 3, 2001Harry Reid –January 20, 2001Democratic← majority –June 6, 2001Republicanmajority → –November 23, 2002Democratic← majority –January 3, 2003majority → –January 3, 2005Bill FristMitch McConnell –January 3, 2007Dick DurbinHarry Reid –December 18, 2007Democratic← majorityMitch McConnellTrent Lott –January 3, 2009Jon Kyl –January 3, 2011 –January 3, 2013 –January 3, 2015John Cornyn –January 3, 2017Republicanmajority → –January 3, 2019Chuck Schumer –January 3, 2021John Thune – January 20, 2021 – January 3, 2023Democratic← majority –January 3, 2025 –January 3, 2027Republicanmajority → John ThuneJohn BarrassoCongressDatesDemocratic whipDemocratic leaderMajorityRepublican leaderRepublican whip

Chief deputy whips The chief deputy whip is the assistant to the majority/minority whip and the head of the whip operations team for their party. The current Republican (majority) chief deputy whip is Mike Crapo (Idaho), who has held the role since 2013, and the current Democratic (minority) chief deputy whip is Brian Schatz (Hawaii).

List of Senate Democratic chief deputy whips CongressOfficeholder 1TermOfficeholder 2TermOfficeholder 3TermParty whipMajority 101stAlan Dixon1989–19932nd & 3rd positions not established Alan Cranston 102nd Wendell Ford 103rd John Breaux 1993–2005 104th 105th 106th Harry Reid 107th 108th 109th Barbara Boxer 2005–2017 Dick Durbin 110th 111th 112th113th114th115th Brian Schatz 2017–present Jeff Merkley 2017–2025 Cory Booker 2017–2021116th 117th Position abolished 118th119th Position abolished

List of Senate Republican chief deputy whips CongressOfficeholderTermParty whipMajority 108th Bob Bennett January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 Mitch McConnell 109th 110th John Thune January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009 Trent LottJon Kyl 111th Richard Burr January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2013 Jon Kyl 112th 113th Mike Crapo January 3, 2013 – present John Cornyn114th115th116th John Thune 117th 118th119th John Barrasso

Party leaders of the United States Senate

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