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Senate Democratic Caucus

Formal organization of U.S. Democratic Senators

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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	51 / 100
Website
democrats.senate.gov
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

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v t e

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 118th Congress, the caucus additionally includes four independent senators (Bernie SandersofVermont, Angus KingofMaine, Kyrsten SinemaofArizona, and Joe ManchinofWest Virginia) who caucus with the Democrats, bringing the current total to 51 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 SchumerofNew York.

Current leadership[edit]

Effective with the start of the 118th Congress, the conference leadership is as follows:

• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) (Caucus Leader)
• Senate Majority Whip: Dick Durbin (Illinois)
• President pro tempore: 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 Committee Chair: Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
• Outreach Committee Vice Chair: Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada)
• Policy Committee Vice Chair: Joe Manchin (West Virginia) and Cory Booker (New Jersey)
• Caucus Secretary: Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin)
• Caucus Deputy Secretary: Brian Schatz (Hawaii)
• Campaign Committee Chair: Gary Peters (Michigan)
• Chief Deputy Whip: Jeff Merkley (Oregon)

History[edit]

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[edit]

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	No data
44th
45th		William A. Wallace (1827–1896)	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881
46th
47th		George H. Pendleton (1825–1889)	Ohio	March 4, 1881	March 4, 1885
48th
49th		James B. Beck (1822–1890)	Kentucky	March 4, 1885	May 3, 1890[a]
50th
51st
		Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	May 3, 1890	April 29, 1898[b]		Unknown[c]
52nd
53rd							Himself 1893–1895
54th							Unknown[c]
55th
		David Turpie (1828–1909)	Indiana	April 29, 1898	March 4, 1899
56th		James Kimbrough Jones (1839–1908)	Arkansas	December 1899	March 4, 1903
57th
58th		Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	March 4, 1903	June 4, 1906[a]
59th
		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[b]
61st
		Hernando Money (1839–1912)	Mississippi	December 9, 1909	March 4, 1911
62nd		Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	April 1911	March 4, 1913
63rd		John W. Kern (1849–1917)	Indiana	March 4, 1913	March 4, 1917		Himself 1913–1917
64th
65th		Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	March 4, 1917	November 12, 1919[a]		Himself 1917–1919
66th							Lodge 1919–1924
		Gilbert Hitchcock[d] (1859–1934)	Nebraska	November 12, 1919	April 27, 1920
		Oscar Underwood (1862–1929)	Alabama	April 27, 1920	December 3, 1923
67th
68th
		Joseph Taylor Robinson (1872–1937)	Arkansas	December 3, 1923	July 14, 1937[a]		Curtis 1924–1929
69th
70th
71st							Watson 1929–1933
72nd
73rd							Himself 1933–1937
74th
75th
		Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956)	Kentucky	July 14, 1937	January 3, 1949[e]		Himself 1937–1947
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th							White 1947–1949
81st		Scott W. Lucas (1892–1968)	Illinois	January 3, 1949	January 3, 1951		Himself 1949–1951
82nd		Ernest McFarland (1894–1984)	Arizona	January 3, 1951	January 3, 1953		Himself 1951–1953
83rd		Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)	Texas	January 3, 1953	January 3, 1961[e]		Taft 1953
							Knowland 1953–1955
84th							Himself 1955–1961
85th
86th
87th		Mike Mansfield (1903–2001)	Montana	January 3, 1961	January 3, 1977		Himself 1961–1977
88th
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th
95th		Robert Byrd (1917–2010)	West Virginia	January 3, 1977	January 3, 1989		Himself 1977–1981
96th
97th							Baker 1981–1985
98th
99th							Dole 1985–1987
100th							Himself 1987–1989
101st		George J. Mitchell (born 1933)	Maine	January 3, 1989	January 3, 1995		Himself 1989–1995
102nd
103rd
104th		Tom Daschle (born 1947)	South Dakota	January 3, 1995	January 3, 2005		Dole 1995–1996
							Lott 1996–2001
105th
106th
107th							Himself 2001
							Lott 2001
							Himself 2001–2002
							Lott 2002–2003
108th							Frist 2003–2007
109th		Harry Reid (1939–2021)	Nevada	January 3, 2005	January 3, 2017
110th							Himself 2007–2015
111th
112th
113th
114th							McConnell 2015–2021
115th		Chuck Schumer (born 1950)	New York	January 3, 2017	Incumbent
116th
117th
							Himself 2021–present
118th

Notes[edit]

Vice chair[edit]

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.^[1] 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[edit]

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.^[2]

The first conference secretary was Sen. Edward W. Carmack of Tennessee, who was elected in March 1903.^[3]

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

Officeholder	State	Term
Edward W. Carmack	TN	1903–1907
Robert Owen	OK	1907–1911
William E. Chilton	WV	1911–1913
Willard Saulsbury Jr.	DE	1913–1916
Key Pittman Acting	NV	1916–1917
William H. King	UT	1917–1927
Hugo Black	AL	1927–1937
Joshua B. Lee	OK	1937–1943
Francis T. Maloney	CT	1943–1945
Brien McMahon	CT	1945–1952
Thomas Hennings	MO	1953–1960
George Smathers	FL	1960–1966
Robert Byrd	WV	1967–1971
Ted Moss	UT	1971–1977
Daniel Inouye	HI	1977–1989
David Pryor	AR	1989–1995
Barbara Mikulski	MD	1995–2005
Debbie Stabenow	MI	2005–2007
Patty Murray	WA	2007–2017
Tammy Baldwin	WI	2017–present

Deputy Caucus Secretary[edit]

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.^[4] This was an elevation from his previous leadership role as Senate Democratic Chief Deputy Whip.

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• 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 PDFortext format.

External links[edit]

• 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