Summary

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.

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Senate Democratic Caucus Wikipedia

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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:

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 of the Senate Democratic Caucus

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.

CongressLeaderStateTook officeLeft officeMajority Leader
43rdJohn W. Stevenson
(1812–1886)		KentuckyDecember 1873March 4, 1877 Unknown[a]
44th Unknown[a]
45thWilliam A. Wallace
(1827–1896)		PennsylvaniaMarch 4, 1877March 4, 1881 Unknown[a]
46th Unknown[b]
47thGeorge H. Pendleton
(1825–1889)		OhioMarch 4, 1881March 4, 1885 Unknown[c]
 
48th Unknown[a]
49thJames B. Beck
(1822–1890)		KentuckyMarch 4, 1885May 3, 1890[d] Unknown[a]
50th Unknown[a]
51st Unknown[a]
51stArthur Pue Gorman
(1839–1906)		MarylandMay 3, 1890April 29, 1898[e]
52nd Unknown[a]
53rd Himself 1893–1895
54th Unknown[a]
55th Unknown[a]
55thDavid Turpie
(1828–1909)		IndianaApril 29, 1898March 4, 1899
56thJames Kimbrough Jones
(1839–1908)		ArkansasDecember 1899March 4, 1903 Unknown[a]
57th Unknown[a]
58thArthur Pue Gorman
(1839–1906)		MarylandMarch 4, 1903June 4, 1906[d] Unknown[a]
59th Unknown[a]
Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn
(1838–1918)		KentuckyJune 4, 1906March 4, 1907
60thCharles Allen Culberson
(1855–1925)		TexasDecember 1907December 9, 1909[e] Unknown[a]
61st Unknown[a]
Hernando Money
(1839–1912)		MississippiDecember 9, 1909March 4, 1911
62ndThomas S. Martin
(1847–1919)		VirginiaApril 1911March 4, 1913 Unknown[a]
63rdJohn W. Kern
(1849–1917)		IndianaMarch 4, 1913March 4, 1917 Himself 1913–1917
64th
65thThomas S. Martin
(1847–1919)		VirginiaMarch 4, 1917November 12, 1919[d] Himself 1917–1919
66th Lodge 1919–1924
66thGilbert Hitchcock[f]
(1859–1934)		NebraskaNovember 12, 1919April 27, 1920
66thOscar Underwood
(1862–1929)		AlabamaApril 27, 1920December 3, 1923
67th
68th
68thJoseph Taylor Robinson
(1872–1937)		ArkansasDecember 3, 1923July 14, 1937[d] Curtis 1924–1929
69th
70th
71st Watson 1929–1933
72nd
73rd Himself 1933–1937
74th
75th
Alben W. Barkley
(1877–1956)		KentuckyJuly 14, 1937January 3, 1949[g] Himself 1937–1947
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th White 1947–1949
81stScott W. Lucas
(1892–1968)		IllinoisJanuary 3, 1949January 3, 1951 Himself 1949–1951
82ndErnest McFarland
(1894–1984)		ArizonaJanuary 3, 1951January 3, 1953 Himself 1951–1953
83rdLyndon B. Johnson
(1908–1973)		TexasJanuary 3, 1953January 3, 1961[g] Taft 1953
 Knowland 1953–1955
84th Himself 1955–1961
85th
86th
87thMike Mansfield
(1903–2001)		MontanaJanuary 3, 1961January 3, 1977 Himself 1961–1977
88th
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th
95thRobert Byrd
(1917–2010)		West VirginiaJanuary 3, 1977January 3, 1989 Himself 1977–1981
96th
97th Baker 1981–1985
98th
99th Dole 1985–1987
100th Himself 1987–1989
101stGeorge J. Mitchell
(born 1933)		MaineJanuary 3, 1989January 3, 1995 Himself 1989–1995
102nd
103rd
104thTom Daschle
(born 1947)		South DakotaJanuary 3, 1995January 3, 2005 Dole 1995–1996
104th Lott 1996–2001
105th
106th
107th Himself 2001
 Lott 2001
 Himself 2001–2002
 Lott 2002–2003
108th Frist 2003–2007
109thHarry Reid
(1939–2021)		NevadaJanuary 3, 2005January 3, 2017
110th Himself 2007–2015
111th
112th
113th
114th McConnell 2015–2021
115thChuck Schumer
(born 1950)		New YorkJanuary 3, 2017Incumbent
116th
117th
 Himself 2021–2025
118th
119th Thune 2025–present

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Although the Senate Majority Leader for this Congress is unknown, the Republican Party had a majority.
  2. ^ Although the Senate Majority Leader for this Congress is unknown, the Democratic Party had a majority.
  3. ^ The Republican Party had a majority in the Senate for the first special Senate session of the 47th Congress from March to May 1881. Beginning with the second special Senate session in October 1881 and continuing until the end of the 47th Congress, the Senate was split between parties.
  4. ^ a b c d Died in office.
  5. ^ a b Resigned from office.
  6. ^ Acting chair.
  7. ^ a b Resigned to become Vice President of the United States.

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.[citation needed] In response, then-Democratic Leader Harry Reid created the position of vice-chair when Democrats formally took control in 2007.[2] 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.

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.[3]

The first conference secretary was Sen. Edward W. Carmack of Tennessee, who was elected in March 1903.[4]

The current conference secretary is Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who assumed the office in January 2017.

OfficeholderStateTerm
Edward W. Carmack TN1903–1907
Robert Owen OK1907–1911
William E. Chilton WV1911–1913
Willard Saulsbury Jr.DE1913–1916
Key Pittman
Acting		 NV1916–1917
William H. King UT1917–1927
Hugo Black AL1927–1937
Joshua B. Lee OK1937–1943
Francis T. Maloney CT1943–1945
Brien McMahon CT1945–1952
Thomas Hennings MO1953–1960
George Smathers FL1960–1966
Robert Byrd WV1967–1971
Ted Moss UT1971–1977
Daniel Inouye HI1977–1989
David Pryor AR1989–1995
Barbara Mikulski MD1995–2005
Debbie Stabenow MI2005–2007
Patty Murray WA2007–2017
Tammy Baldwin WI2017–present

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.[5] This was an elevation from his previous leadership role as Senate Democratic Chief Deputy Whip.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k “U.S. Senate: Leadership & Officers”. www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
  2. ^ Bolton, Alexander (January 20, 2021). “Schumer becomes new Senate majority leader”. The Hill. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  3. ^ “Conference Secretaries”. U.S. Senate.
  4. ^ “Senate Democratic Caucus Organized”. U.S. Senate.
  5. ^ “Schumer reelected as Senate majority leader”. The Hill.

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.


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Democratic_Caucus