Current party leaders of the United States Senate

Last updated December 19, 2024

The party leadership of the United States Senate refers to the officials elected by the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference to manage the affairs of each party in the Senate. Each party is led by a floor leader who directs the legislative agenda of their caucus in the Senate, and who is augmented by an Assistant Leader or Whip, and several other officials who work together to manage the floor schedule of legislation, enforce party discipline, and oversee efforts to maintain and grow the party's seats in the Senate.^[1]

Democratic Leadership

Since January 20, 2021, the Democratic Party has constituted a majority in the United States Senate.

Rank	Position	Name	State	Notes^[4]^[5]
1	Democratic Floor Leader	Chuck Schumer	New York	Senate Majority Leader
2	Democratic Floor Whip	Dick Durbin	Illinois	Senate Majority Whip
3	Chair of Policy and Communications Committee	Debbie Stabenow	Michigan	Responsible for relations between Senate committees and the Senate Democratic Conference
4	Steering Chair of the Steering and Outreach Committee	Amy Klobuchar	Minnesota	Responsible for fostering relations between Senate Democrats and community leaders and interest groups - chair split with Senator Sanders
5	Vice Chairs of the Democratic Caucus	Mark Warner	Virginia	Position created for Schumer after successful tenure as DSCC chairman
5	Vice Chairs of the Democratic Caucus	Elizabeth Warren	Massachusetts
6	Outreach Chair of the Steering and Outreach Committee	Bernie Sanders ^[a]	Vermont	Responsible for fostering relations between Senate Democrats and community leaders and interest groups - chair split with Senator Klobuchar
7	Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus	Tammy Baldwin	Wisconsin	Responsible for managing the policy agenda for the Senate Democratic Caucus.
8	Vice Chair of Policy and Communications Committee	Joe Manchin	West Virginia	Assists caucus with policy proposals, outreach, legislative research, and party unity
8	Vice Chair of Policy and Communications Committee	Cory Booker	New Jersey
9	Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee	Gary Peters	Michigan	Responsible for electing and reelecting Democrats to the Senate by organizing fundraising to candidate recruitment.
10	Vice Chair of the Democratic Outreach Committee	Catherine Cortez Masto	Nevada	Assists the Chair with fostering relations between Senate Democrats and community leaders and interest groups.
11	Deputy Secretary of the Senate Democratic Caucus	Brian Schatz	Hawaii	Responsible for assisting the Caucus Secretary in managing the policy agenda for the Senate Democratic Caucus.
-	Vice Chair of the Democratic Steering Committee	Jeanne Shaheen	New Hampshire	Assists the Chair with fostering relations between Senate Democrats and community leaders and interest groups.
-	Vice Chairs of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee	Tina Smith	Minnesota	Assists the Chair for electing and reelecting Democrats to the Senate by organizing fundraising to candidate recruitment.
-		Alex Padilla	California
-	Senate Democratic Chief Deputy Whip	Jeff Merkley	Oregon	Assists the Majority Whip in gathering the votes of the Democratic party on major issues.

Presiding Officials

Rank	Position	Name	State	Notes
1	President of the Senate	Kamala Harris	(California)	Not a Senator; see Vice President of the United States In practicality, only an ex officio leadership member due to the Vice President's Executive Branch nature
2	Senate President Pro Tempore	Patty Murray ^[6]	Washington	Usually the longest serving member of the majority party; honorary member of the leadership team.^[b]

Republican leadership

Since January 20, 2021, the Republican Party has constituted a minority in the United States Senate.

Rank	Position	Name	State	Notes^[7]^[5]^[8]
1	Republican Floor Leader	Mitch McConnell	Kentucky	Senate Minority Leader
2	Republican Floor Whip	John Thune	South Dakota	Senate Minority Whip
3	Republican Conference Chair	John Barrasso	Wyoming	Oversees floor leader election, helps lead policy initiatives and policy proposals
4	Republican Policy Committee Chair	Joni Ernst ^[9]	Iowa	Policy liaison between committees and conference legislation
5	Republican Conference Vice Chair	Shelley Moore Capito ^[10]	West Virginia	Takes minutes and assists chair with conference operations
6	Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee	Steve Daines ^[11]	Montana	Responsible for overseeing efforts to elect Republicans to the Senate
-	Senate President Pro Tempore Emeritus	Chuck Grassley	Iowa	Republican senator who was the previous ( emeritus ) president pro tem when the Republicans were in the majority, honorary member of Republican leadership.

Notes

↑ Independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
↑ At the beginning of the 118th Congress Murray was the second longest serving Democrat; Dianne Feinstein was the longest serving Democrat turned down the opportunity to fill this position. Since Feinstein's death on September 29, 2023 Murray is now the longest serving Democratic senator.

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References

↑ "U.S. Senate: Responsibilities of Majority and Minority Leaders". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
↑ "U.S. Senate: President Pro Tempore". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
↑ "U.S. Senate: Majority and Minority Leaders". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
↑ Leadership | Senate Democrats. Democrats.senate.gov (2013-01-18). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
1 2 U.S. Senate: Senators Home > Senate Organization. Senate.gov (2013-05-31). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
↑ Gutman, David (November 16, 2022). "Patty Murray to be first female Senate president pro tempore, third in line for presidency". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
↑ Republican.Senate.Gov. Republican.Senate.Gov (2012-09-04). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.
↑ "Republican Senators | Republican Leader". www.republicanleader.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
↑ Treene, Andrew Solender,Alayna (November 16, 2022). "McConnell re-elected as Senate GOP leader". Axios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Treene, Andrew Solender,Alayna (November 16, 2022). "McConnell re-elected as Senate GOP leader". Axios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Treene, Andrew Solender,Alayna (November 16, 2022). "McConnell re-elected as Senate GOP leader". Axios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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[6] Independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

[8] At the beginning of the 118th Congress Murray was the second longest serving Democrat; Dianne Feinstein was the longest serving Democrat turned down the opportunity to fill this position. Since Feinstein's death on September 29, 2023 Murray is now the longest serving Democratic senator.

[1] "U.S. Senate: Responsibilities of Majority and Minority Leaders". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.

[2] "U.S. Senate: President Pro Tempore". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.

[3] "U.S. Senate: Majority and Minority Leaders". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.

[4] Leadership | Senate Democrats. Democrats.senate.gov (2013-01-18). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.

[senate1-5] 1 2 U.S. Senate: Senators Home > Senate Organization. Senate.gov (2013-05-31). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.

[7] Gutman, David (November 16, 2022). "Patty Murray to be first female Senate president pro tempore, third in line for presidency". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 16, 2022.

[9] Republican.Senate.Gov. Republican.Senate.Gov (2012-09-04). Retrieved on 2013-08-16.

[10] "Republican Senators | Republican Leader". www.republicanleader.senate.gov. Retrieved 2021-02-09.

[11] Treene, Andrew Solender,Alayna (November 16, 2022). "McConnell re-elected as Senate GOP leader". Axios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[12] Treene, Andrew Solender,Alayna (November 16, 2022). "McConnell re-elected as Senate GOP leader". Axios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[13] Treene, Andrew Solender,Alayna (November 16, 2022). "McConnell re-elected as Senate GOP leader". Axios. Retrieved November 16, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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