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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]
Vice Chair of Outreach Catherine Cortez Masto^[1]
Democratic Conference Secretary Tammy Baldwin^[1]
Deputy Democratic Conference Secretary Brian Schatz^[1]
Deputy Democratic Conference Secretary Chris Murphy^[1]

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		State	Took office	Left office
43rd	John W. Stevenson (1812–1886)	Kentucky	December 1873	March 4, 1877	Unknown^[a]
44th	John W. Stevenson (1812–1886)	Kentucky	December 1873	March 4, 1877	Unknown^[a]
45th	William A. Wallace (1827–1896)	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881	Unknown^[a]
46th	William A. Wallace (1827–1896)	Pennsylvania	March 4, 1877	March 4, 1881	Unknown^[b]
47th	George H. Pendleton (1825–1889)	Ohio	March 4, 1881	March 4, 1885	Unknown^[c]
47th					Unknown^[c]
48th					Unknown^[a]
49th	James B. Beck (1822–1890)	Kentucky	March 4, 1885	May 3, 1890^[d]	Unknown^[a]
50th					Unknown^[a]
51st					Unknown^[a]
51st	Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	May 3, 1890	April 29, 1898^[e]	Unknown^[a]
52nd					Unknown^[a]
53rd					Himself 1893–1895
54th					Unknown^[a]
55th					Unknown^[a]
55th	David Turpie (1828–1909)	Indiana	April 29, 1898	March 4, 1899	Unknown^[a]
56th	James Kimbrough Jones (1839–1908)	Arkansas	December 1899	March 4, 1903	Unknown^[a]
57th	James Kimbrough Jones (1839–1908)	Arkansas	December 1899	March 4, 1903	Unknown^[a]
58th	Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	March 4, 1903	June 4, 1906^[d]	Unknown^[a]
59th	Arthur Pue Gorman (1839–1906)	Maryland	March 4, 1903	June 4, 1906^[d]	Unknown^[a]
59th	Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (1838–1918)	Kentucky	June 4, 1906	March 4, 1907	Unknown^[a]
60th	Charles Allen Culberson (1855–1925)	Texas	December 1907	December 9, 1909^[e]	Unknown^[a]
61st	Charles Allen Culberson (1855–1925)	Texas	December 1907	December 9, 1909^[e]	Unknown^[a]
61st	Hernando Money (1839–1912)	Mississippi	December 9, 1909	March 4, 1911	Unknown^[a]
62nd	Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	April 1911	March 4, 1913	Unknown^[a]
63rd	John W. Kern (1849–1917)	Indiana	March 4, 1913	March 4, 1917	Himself 1913–1917
64th	John W. Kern (1849–1917)	Indiana	March 4, 1913	March 4, 1917	Himself 1913–1917
65th	Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	March 4, 1917	November 12, 1919^[d]	Himself 1917–1919
66th	Thomas S. Martin (1847–1919)	Virginia	March 4, 1917	November 12, 1919^[d]	Lodge 1919–1924
66th	Gilbert Hitchcock^[f] (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^[d]	Curtis 1924–1929
69th
70th
71st					Watson 1929–1933
72nd					Watson 1929–1933
73rd					Himself 1933–1937
74th
75th
75th	Alben W. Barkley (1877–1956)	Kentucky	July 14, 1937	January 3, 1949^[g]	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^[g]	Taft 1953
83rd					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					Himself 1977–1981
97th					Baker 1981–1985
98th					Baker 1981–1985
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
104th					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	Frist 2003–2007
110th					Himself 2007–2015
111th
112th
113th
114th					McConnell 2015–2021
115th	Chuck Schumer (born 1950)	New York	January 3, 2017	Incumbent
116th
117th
117th					Himself 2021–2025
118th					Himself 2021–2025
119th					Thune 2025–present

Notes

^ ^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.
^ Although the Senate Majority Leader for this Congress is unknown, the Democratic Party had a majority.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Died in office.
^ ^a ^b Resigned from office.
^ Acting chair.
^ ^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.

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.

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

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

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