Assistant party leaders of the United States Senate

The Assistant Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate (commonly called Senate Majority and Minority Whips

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

) are the second-ranking members of the party leadership of the United States Senate

Party leadership of the United States Senate

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...

.

The main function of the Majority and Minority Whips is to gather votes on major issues. Because he or she is the second ranking member of the Senate, if there is no floor leader

Floor Leader

Floor Leaders are leaders of their political parties in each of the houses of the legislature.- Senate :In the United States Senate, they are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokesmen for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and...

 present, the whip may become acting floor leader.

Before 1969, the official titles were Majority Whip and Minority Whip.

The current Assistant Majority Leader is Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

The current Assistant Minority Leader is Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Jon Kyl

Jon Kyl

Jon Llewellyn Kyl is the junior U.S. Senator from Arizona and the Senate Minority Whip, the second-highest position in the Republican Senate leadership. In 2010 he was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for his persuasive role in the Senate.The son...

 of Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

.

List of assistant leaders

Congresses	Dates	Democratic Whip	Majority	Republican Whip
63rd 63rd United States Congress - House of Representatives:*Democratic : 291 *Republican : 134*Progressive : 9*Independent : 1TOTAL members: 435-Senate:*President of the Senate: Thomas R. Marshall*President pro tempore: James P. Clarke-Senate:...	1913 – 1915	J. Hamilton Lewis J. Hamilton Lewis James Hamilton Lewis was the first Senator to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate. Lewis was born in Danville, Virginia, and also grew up in Augusta, Georgia...	← D Maj	None
64th 64th United States Congress The Sixty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915 to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth...	1915			James Wadsworth, Jr. James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. was a U.S. Republican politician from New York. He was the son of New York State Comptroller James Wolcott Wadsworth, Sr., and the grandson of Union General James Samuel Wadsworth, Sr.-Biography:...
64th 64th United States Congress The Sixty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1915 to March 4, 1917, during the third and fourth...  – 65th 65th United States Congress The Sixty-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1917 to March 4, 1919, during the fourth and fifth...	1915 – 1919			Charles Curtis Charles Curtis Charles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States...
66th 66th United States Congress The Sixty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1919 to March 4, 1921, during the last two years of...  – 68th 68th United States Congress The Sixty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923 to March 4, 1925, during the last months of...	1919 – 1924	Peter Gerry Peter G. Gerry Peter Goelet Gerry was an American lawyer and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island.-Early life:...	R Maj →
68th 68th United States Congress The Sixty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1923 to March 4, 1925, during the last months of...  – 70th 70th United States Congress The Seventieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1927 to March 3, 1929, during the last two years of...	1924 – 1929			Wesley Jones
71st 71st United States Congress The Seventy-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1929 to March 4, 1931, during the first two years...  – 72nd 72nd United States Congress The Seventy-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931 to March 4, 1933, during the last two years...	1929 – 1933	Morris Sheppard Morris Sheppard John Morris Sheppard was a Democratic United States Congressman and United States Senator from Texas. He authored the Eighteenth Amendment and introduced it in the Senate, so that he is referred to as "the father of national Prohibition."-Biography:John Morris Sheppard was born in Morris County...		Simeon Fess Simeon D. Fess Simeon Davison Fess was a Republican politician and educator from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.-Early life:...
73rd 73rd United States Congress The Seventy-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1935, during the first two years...	1933 – 1935	J. Hamilton Lewis J. Hamilton Lewis James Hamilton Lewis was the first Senator to hold the title of Whip in the United States Senate. Lewis was born in Danville, Virginia, and also grew up in Augusta, Georgia...	← D Maj	Felix Hebert Felix Hebert Felix Hebert was a United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born near St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada, he came to the United States when his parents, Edouard and Catherine Hebert, returned in 1880 and resumed their residence in the town of Coventry, Rhode Island.He attended La Salle Academy...
74th 74th United States Congress -House:Also 2 Delegates, 3 Resident Commissioners-Senate:*President of the Senate: John N. Garner *President pro tempore: Key Pittman -Majority leadership:*Majority leader: Joseph T. Robinson...  – 75th 75th United States Congress The Seventy-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 to January 3, 1939, during the first two years...	1935 – 1939			None
76th 76th United States Congress The Seventy-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and...	1939 – 1941	Sherman Minton Sherman Minton Sherman "Shay" Minton was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was the most educated justice during his time on the Supreme Court, having attended Indiana University, Yale and the Sorbonne...
77th 77th United States Congress -Major events:* December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor* December 8, 1941: Joint Session of Congress met to hear President Roosevelt deliver his "Day of Infamy" speech...  – 78th 78th United States Congress The Seventy-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943 to January 3, 1945, during the last two years...	1941 – 1944	Lister Hill
78th 78th United States Congress The Seventy-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943 to January 3, 1945, during the last two years...  – 79th 79th United States Congress The Seventy-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1945 to January 3, 1947, during the last months of...	1944 – 1947			Kenneth Wherry Kenneth S. Wherry Kenneth Spicer Wherry was a Republican United States Senator from Nebraska.-Early life:He was born in Liberty, Gage County, Nebraska. He graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, in 1914...
80th 80th United States Congress The Eightieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1947 to January 3, 1949, during the third and fourth...	1947 – 1949	Scott Lucas Scott W. Lucas Scott Wike Lucas was a two-term Democratic United States Senator from Illinois, and the United States Senate Majority Leader from 1948 to 1950....	R Maj →
81st 81st United States Congress The Eighty-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives...	1949 – 1951	Francis Myers Francis J. Myers Francis John Myers was an American teacher, lawyer, and Democratic Party politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the St. Joseph's University and Temple University School of Law, He represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives, and then in the United States Senate...	← D Maj	Leverett Saltonstall Leverett Saltonstall Leverett A. Saltonstall was an American Republican politician who served as the 55th Governor of Massachusetts and as a United States Senator .-Biography:...
82nd 82nd United States Congress The Eighty-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1951 to January 3, 1953, during the last two years...	1951 – 1953	Lyndon Johnson
83rd 83rd United States Congress The Eighty-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1953 to January 3, 1955, during the first two years...	1953 – 1955	Earle Clements Earle C. Clements Earle Chester Clements was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. He represented the state in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and was its 47th Governor, serving from 1947 to 1950...	R Maj →
84th 84th United States Congress The Eighty-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1955 to January 3, 1957, during the third and...	1955 – 1957		← D Maj
85th 85th United States Congress The Eighty-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1957 to January 3, 1959, during the fifth and sixth...	1957 – 1959	Mike Mansfield Mike Mansfield Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...		Everett Dirksen Everett Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen was an American politician of the Republican Party. He represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate...
86th 86th United States Congress The Eighty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1959 to January 3, 1961, during the last two years...	1959 – 1961			Thomas Kuchel Thomas Kuchel Thomas Henry Kuchel was a moderate Republican U.S. Senator from California. From 1959 to 1969 he was the minority whip in the Senate, where he was the co-manager on the floor for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.-Biography:Kuchel was born in Anaheim in Orange County,...
87th 87th United States Congress -House of Representatives :-Senate:* President: Richard Nixon , until January 20, 1961** Lyndon Johnson , from January 20, 1961* President pro tempore: Carl Hayden -House of Representatives:...  – 88th 88th United States Congress The Eighty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1963 to January 3, 1965, during the last year of...	1961 – 1965	Hubert Humphrey Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
89th 89th United States Congress -House of Representatives:- Senate :* President of the Senate: Hubert Humphrey , starting January 20, 1965* President pro tempore: Carl Hayden - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader and Democratic Conference Chairman: Mike Mansfield...  – 90th 90th United States Congress The Ninetieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1967 to January 3, 1969, during the last two years of...	1965 – 1969	Russell Long
91st 91st United States Congress The Ninety-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1969 to January 3, 1971, during the first two years...	1969	Ted Kennedy Ted Kennedy Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...		Hugh Scott Hugh Scott Hugh Doggett Scott, Jr. was a politician from Pennsylvania who served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, and who also served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.- Early life :He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on November 11, 1900...
91st 91st United States Congress The Ninety-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1969 to January 3, 1971, during the first two years...	September 7, 1969 – 1971			Robert Griffin
92nd 92nd United States Congress The Ninety-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives...  – 94th 94th United States Congress The Ninety-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1977, during the administration...	1971 – 1977	Robert Byrd Robert Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd was a United States Senator from West Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010...
95th 95th United States Congress The Ninety-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977 to January 3, 1979, during the first two years...  – 96th 96th United States Congress The Ninety-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1981, during the last two years...	1977 – 1981	Alan Cranston Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American journalist and Democratic Senator from California.-Education:Cranston earned his high school diploma from the old Mountain View High School, where among other things, he was a track star...		Ted Stevens Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...
97th 97th United States Congress The Ninety-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1981 to January 3, 1983, during the final weeks of...  – 98th 98th United States Congress The Ninety-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1985, during the third and...	1981 – 1985		R Maj →
99th 99th United States Congress The Ninety-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1985 to January 3, 1987, during the fifth and sixth...	1985 – 1987			Alan Simpson Alan K. Simpson Alan Kooi Simpson is an American politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States Senator from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S...
100th 100th United States Congress -House of Representatives:- Senate :* President: George H.W. Bush * President pro tempore: John Stennis - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader, Democratic Conference Chairman, and Democratic Policy Committee Chairman: Robert Byrd...  – 101st 101st United States Congress The One Hundred First United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1989 to January 3, 1991, during the first two...	1987 – 1991		← D Maj
102nd 102nd United States Congress -House of Representatives:- Senate :* President:Dan Quayle * President pro tempore: Robert Byrd - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader: George Mitchell* Majority Whip: Wendell Ford- Minority leadership :...  – 103rd 103rd United States Congress - House of Representatives :- Leadership :- Senate :* President: Dan Quayle , until January 20, 1993** Al Gore , from January 20, 1993* President pro tempore: Robert Byrd - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader: George Mitchell...	1991 – 1995	Wendell Ford
104th 104th United States Congress The One Hundred Fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1995 to January 3, 1997, during the third and...	1995 – June 12, 1996		R Maj →	Trent Lott Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
	June 12, 1996 – 1997			Don Nickles Don Nickles Donald Lee Nickles is an American businessman and politician who was a Republican United States Senator from Oklahoma from 1981 until 2005. He was a fiscal and social conservative.-Early life:...
105th 105th United States Congress The One Hundred Fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997 to January 3, 1999, during the fifth and...	1997 – 1999
106th 106th United States Congress The One Hundred Sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1999 to January 3, 2001, during the last two...	1999 – 2001	Harry Reid Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
107th 107th United States Congress The One Hundred Seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003, during the final...	January 3, 2001 – January 20, 2001		← D Maj
	January 20, 2001 – June 6, 2001		R Maj →
	June 6, 2001 – January 3, 2003		← D Maj
108th 108th United States Congress The One Hundred Eighth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during the third and fourth years of George W. Bush's...	2003 – 2005		R Maj →	Mitch McConnell Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Republican Minority Leader.- Early life, education, and military service :...
109th 109th United States Congress The One Hundred Ninth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members...	2005 – 2007	Richard Durbin
110th 110th United States Congress The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of...	January 3, 2007 – December 18, 2007		← D Maj	Trent Lott Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott, Sr. , is a former United States Senator from Mississippi and has served in numerous leadership positions in the House of Representatives and the Senate....
	December 19, 2007 – January 3, 2009			Jon Kyl Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl is the junior U.S. Senator from Arizona and the Senate Minority Whip, the second-highest position in the Republican Senate leadership. In 2010 he was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world for his persuasive role in the Senate.The son...
111th 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of...	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
112th 112th United States Congress The One Hundred Twelfth United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and will end on January...	January 3, 2011 – Present
Congress(es)	Dates	Democratic Whip	Majority	Republican Whip