Senate Democratic Caucus

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Senate Democratic Caucus
Part of	United States Senate
Chair and Floor Leader	Chuck Schumer (NY)
Floor Whip	Dick Durbin (IL)
Assistant Leader	Patty Murray (WA)
Vice Chairs	Mark Warner (VA) Elizabeth Warren (MA)
Ideology	Centrism Modern liberalism Progressivism
Political position	Center to center-left[1]
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Colors	Blue
Seats	50 / 100
Website
democrats.senate.gov
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

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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 117th 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 50 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.

Current leadership[]

Effective with the start of the 116th Congress, the conference leadership is as follows:

• Caucus Chair: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York)
• Senate Majority Whip: Dick Durbin (Illinois)
• Assistant Leader: Patty Murray (Washington)
• Caucus Vice Chairs: Mark Warner (Virginia) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)
• Policy Committee Chair: Debbie Stabenow (Michigan)
• Steering Committee Chair: Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)
• Outreach Chair: Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
• Policy Committee Vice Chair: Joe Manchin (West Virginia)
• Caucus Secretary: Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin)
• Campaign Committee Chair: Gary Peters (Michigan)
• Chief Deputy Whip: Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
• President pro tempore: Patrick Leahy (Vermont)

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.

Senator		State	Term of office			Congress
			Start	End	Length
	John W. Stevenson	Kentucky	December 1873	March 4, 1877	3 years	43rd → 44th
	William A. Wallace	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881	4 years, 0 days	45th → 46th
	George H. Pendleton	Ohio	March 4, 1881	March 4, 1885	4 years, 0 days	47th → 48th
	James B. Beck	Kentucky	March 4, 1885	May 3, 1890	5 years, 60 days	49th → 51st
	Arthur Gorman	Maryland	May 3, 1890	April 1898	7 years	51st → 55th
	David Turpie	Indiana	April 1898	March 4, 1899	0 years	55th → 55th
	James Kimbrough Jones	Arkansas	December 1899	March 4, 1903	3 years	56th → 57th
	Arthur Gorman	Maryland	March 4, 1903	June 4, 1906	3 years, 92 days	58th → 59th
	Joseph Blackburn	Kentucky	June 4, 1906	March 4, 1907	273 days	59th → 59th
	Charles Culberson	Texas	December 1907	December 1909	1–2 years	60th → 61st
	Hernando Money	Mississippi	December 1909	March 4, 1911	1 years	61st → 61st
	Thomas S. Martin	Virginia	April 1911	March 4, 1913	1 years	62nd → 62nd
	John W. Kern	Indiana	March 4, 1913	March 4, 1917	4 years, 0 days	63rd → 64th
	Thomas S. Martin	Virginia	March 4, 1917	November 12, 1919	2 years, 253 days	65th → 66th
	Gilbert Hitchcock (acting)	Nebraska	November 12, 1919	April 27, 1920	167 days	66th → 66th
	Oscar Underwood	Alabama	April 27, 1920	December 3, 1923	3 years, 220 days	66th → 68th
	Joe Robinson	Arkansas	December 3, 1923	July 14, 1937	13 years, 223 days	68th → 75th
	Alben W. Barkley	Kentucky	July 14, 1937	January 3, 1949	11 years, 173 days	75th → 80th
	Scott W. Lucas	Illinois	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1951	2 years, 0 days	81st → 81st
	Ernest McFarland	Arizona	January 3, 1951	January 3, 1953	2 years, 0 days	82nd → 82nd
	Lyndon Johnson	Texas	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1961	8 years, 0 days	83rd → 86th
	Mike Mansfield	Montana	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1977	16 years, 0 days	87th → 94th
	Robert Byrd	West Virginia	January 3, 1977	January 3, 1989	12 years, 0 days	95th → 100th
	George J. Mitchell	Maine	January 3, 1989	January 3, 1995	6 years, 0 days	101st → 103rd
	Tom Daschle	South Dakota	January 3, 1995	January 3, 2005	10 years, 0 days	104th → 108th
	Harry Reid	Nevada	January 3, 2005	January 3, 2017	12 years, 0 days	109th → 114th
	Chuck Schumer	New York	January 3, 2017	Incumbent	4 years, 251 days	115th →

Vice chair[]

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.

• Chuck Schumer (2007–2017)
• Mark Warner and Elizabeth Warren (2017–present)

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.

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