Senate Democratic Caucus

Senate Democratic Caucus
Part of	United States Senate
Chair and Floor Leader	Chuck Schumer (NY)
Floor Whip	Dick Durbin (IL)
Vice Chairs	Mark Warner (VA) Elizabeth Warren (MA)
Secretary	Tammy Baldwin (WI)
Ideology	Modern liberalism
Political position	Center-left
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Colors	Blue
Seats	47 / 100
Website
democrats.senate.gov
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

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 Conference Elizabeth Warren ^[1]
• Vice Chair of the Conference Mark Warner ^[1]
• Chair of Outreach Bernie Sanders ^[1]
• Conference Secretary Tammy Baldwin ^[1]
• Vice Chair of Outreach Catherine Cortez Masto ^[1]
• Deputy Conference Secretary Brian Schatz ^{[a] [1]}
• Deputy Conference Secretary Chris Murphy ^[1]
• Vice Chair of Steering and Policy Committee Jeanne Shaheen ^[3]
• Vice Chair of Strategic Communications Committee Tina Smith ^[3]

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.

Congress	Leader		State	Took office	Left office	Majority Leader
43rd		John W. Stevenson (1812–1886)	Kentucky	December 1873	March 4, 1877		Unknown [b]
44th							Unknown [b]
45th		William A. Wallace (1827–1896)	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881		Unknown [b]
46th							Unknown [c]
47th		George H. Pendleton (1825–1889)	Ohio	March 4, 1881	March 4, 1885		Unknown [d]
48th							Unknown [b]
49th		James B. Beck (1822–1890)	Kentucky	March 4, 1885	May 3, 1890 [e]		Unknown [b]
50th							Unknown [b]
51st							Unknown [b]
51st		Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	May 3, 1890	April 29, 1898 [f]
52nd							Unknown [b]
53rd							Himself1893–1895
54th							Unknown [b]
55th							Unknown [b]
55th		David Turpie (1828–1909)	Indiana	April 29, 1898	March 4, 1899
56th		James Kimbrough Jones (1839–1908)	Arkansas	December 1899	March 4, 1903		Unknown [b]
57th							Unknown [b]
58th		Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	March 4, 1903	June 4, 1906 [e]		Unknown [b]
59th							Unknown [b]
		Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (1838–1918)	Kentucky	June 4, 1906	March 4, 1907
60th		Charles Allen Culberson (1855–1925)	Texas	December 1907	December 9, 1909 [f]		Unknown [b]
61st							Unknown [b]
		Hernando Money (1839–1912)	Mississippi	December 9, 1909	March 4, 1911
62nd		Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	April 1911	March 4, 1913		Unknown [b]
63rd		John W. Kern (1849–1917)	Indiana	March 4, 1913	March 4, 1917		Himself1913–1917
64th
65th		Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	March 4, 1917	November 12, 1919 [e]		Himself1917–1919
66th							Lodge 1919–1924
66th		Gilbert Hitchcock [g] (1859–1934)	Nebraska	November 12, 1919	April 27, 1920
66th		Oscar Underwood (1862–1929)	Alabama	April 27, 1920	December 3, 1923
67th
68th
68th		Joseph Taylor Robinson (1872–1937)	Arkansas	December 3, 1923	July 14, 1937 [e]		Curtis 1924–1929
69th
70th
71st							Watson 1929–1933
72nd
73rd							Himself1933–1937
74th
75th
		Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956)	Kentucky	July 14, 1937	January 3, 1949 [h]		Himself1937–1947
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th							White 1947–1949
81st		Scott W. Lucas (1892–1968)	Illinois	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1951		Himself1949–1951
82nd		Ernest McFarland (1894–1984)	Arizona	January 3, 1951	January 3, 1953		Himself1951–1953
83rd		Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)	Texas	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1961 [h]		Taft 1953
							Knowland 1953–1955
84th							Himself1955–1961
85th
86th
87th		Mike Mansfield (1903–2001)	Montana	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1977		Himself1961–1977
88th
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th
95th		Robert Byrd (1917–2010)	West Virginia	January 3, 1977	January 3, 1989		Himself1977–1981
96th
97th							Baker 1981–1985
98th
99th							Dole 1985–1987
100th							Himself1987–1989
101st		George J. Mitchell (born 1933)	Maine	January 3, 1989	January 3, 1995		Himself1989–1995
102nd
103rd
104th		Tom Daschle (born 1947)	South Dakota	January 3, 1995	January 3, 2005		Dole 1995–1996
104th							Lott 1996–2001
105th
106th
107th							Himself2001
							Lott 2001
							Himself2001–2002
							Lott 2002–2003
108th							Frist 2003–2007
109th		Harry Reid (1939–2021)	Nevada	January 3, 2005	January 3, 2017
110th							Himself2007–2015
111th
112th
113th
114th							McConnell 2015–2021
115th		Chuck Schumer (born 1950)	New York	January 3, 2017	Incumbent
116th
117th
							Himself2021–2025
118th
119th							Thune 2025–present

Notes

1. Concurrently serves as Chief Deputy Whip on Durbin's Whip Operations Team. ^[2]
2. Although the Senate Majority Leader for this Congress is unknown, the Republican Party had a majority.
3. Although the Senate Majority Leader for this Congress is unknown, the Democratic Party had a majority.
4. 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.
5. Died in office.
6. Resigned from office.
7. Acting chair.
8. 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. ^[4] 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	Chuck Schumer	New York	January 3, 2007	January 3, 2017
111th
112th
113th
114th
115th	Elizabeth Warren & Mark Warner	Massachusetts Virginia	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. ^[5]

The first conference secretary was Sen. Edward W. Carmack of Tennessee, who was elected in March 1903. ^[6]

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	Edward W. Carmack	Tennessee	March 6, 1903	March 3, 1907
59th
60th	Robert Owen	Oklahoma	December 3, 1907 [a]	March 4, 1911
61st
62nd	William E. Chilton	Virginia	March 4, 1911	March 4, 1913
63rd	Willard Saulsbury Jr.	Delaware	March 4, 1913	March 3, 1915
64th	Willard Saulsbury Jr.	Delaware	March 3, 1915	December 14, 1916
	Key Pittman (Acting)	Nevada	December 14, 1916	March 3, 1917
65th	William H. King	Utah	March 4, 1917	March 3, 1927
66th
67th
68th
69th
70th	Hugo Black	Alabama	March 4, 1927	January 3, 1937
71st
72nd
73rd
74th
75th	Joshua B. Lee	Oklahoma	January 3, 1937	January 3, 1943
76th
77th
78th	Francis T. Maloney	Connecticut	January 3, 1943	January 3, 1945
79th	Brien McMahon	Connecticut	January 3, 1945	July 28, 1952
80th
81st
82nd
83rd	Thomas Hennings	Missouri	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1959
84th
85th
86th	Thomas Hennings	Missouri	January 3, 1959	September 13, 1960
	George Smathers	Florida	September 3, 1960	January 3, 1961
87th	George Smathers	Florida	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1967
88th
89th
90th	Robert Byrd	West Virginia	January 3, 1967	January 3, 1971
91st
92nd	Ted Moss	Utah	January 3, 1971	January 3, 1977
93rd
94th
95th	Daniel Inouye	Hawaii	January 3, 1977	January 3, 1989
96th
97th
98th
99th
100th
101st	David Pryor	Arkansas	January 3, 1989	January 3, 1995
102nd
103rd
104th	Barbara Mikulski	Maryland	January 3, 1995	January 3, 2005
105th
106th
107th
108th
109th	Debbie Stabenow	Michigan	January 3, 2005	January 3, 2007
110th	Patty Murray	Washington	January 3, 2007	January 3, 2017
111th
112th
113th
114th
115th	Tammy Baldwin	Wisconsin	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. ^[7] 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. ^[8]

Notes

1. The 60th Congress began on March 4, 1907; however Owen did not take office until the start of the 1st Session of the 60th Congress on December 2, 1907.

References

1. "U.S. Senate: Leadership & Officers". www.senate.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-04.
2. "Durbin Announces Senate Democratic Whip Operations For 119th Congress". Dick Durbin United States Senator Illinois Newsroom. 2024-12-04. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
3. "Rules for the Democratic Conference". www.democrats.senate.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-22.
4. Bolton, Alexander (January 20, 2021). "Schumer becomes new Senate majority leader". The Hill. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
5. "Conference Secretaries". U.S. Senate.
6. "Senate Democratic Caucus Organized". U.S. Senate.
7. "Schumer reelected as Senate majority leader". The Hill.
8. Hagen, Lisa (2024-12-03). "Chris Murphy to join Senate leadership ranks in next Congress". CT Mirror. Retrieved 2025-01-25.

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