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Assistant party leaders of the United States Senate

Overview

The Assistant Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate (commonly called Senate Majority and Minority Whips
Whip (politics)
The whip is a role in party politics whose primary purpose is to ensure control of the formal decision-making process in a parliamentary legislature. Whips are party 'enforcers', who typically offer both inducements and punishments to party members...

) are the second-ranking members of their parties in the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...

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Encyclopedia

United States 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 Richard Durbin

Richard Durbin

Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin is the senior United States Senator from the U.S. state of Illinois and Democratic Party Whip, the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate. He became Majority Whip of the U.S. Senate when the 110th Congress convened on January 4, 2007...

of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...

.

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 Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...

Jon Kyl

Jon Llewellyn Kyl is the Republican junior U.S. Senator representing Arizona. He is currently the Senate Minority Whip, tasked with maintaining party discipline. Jon Kyl was born in the Midwest and moved to Arizona for College and Law School. He later got married and launched his career in Arizona...

of Arizona

Arizona

The State of Arizona is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix. The second largest city is Tucson, followed in size by the four Phoenix metropolitan area cities of Mesa, Glendale, Chandler, and Scottsdale.Arizona was the 48th and...

List of assistant leaders

Congress(es)	Dates	Democratic Whip	Majority	Republican Whip
63rd 63rd United States Congress The Sixty-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, D.C. from March 4, 1913 to March 4, 1915, during the first two years of...	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 of...	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:A member of Skull and Bones, he attended St...
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 of... – 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.-Biography:He was born in Morris County, Texas to lawyer and later judge and United States Congressman, John Levi Sheppard....		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.-Eary 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 The Seventy-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, 1935 to January 3, 1937, during the third and... – 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 Minton, was a Democratic United States Senator from Indiana and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.-Pre-judicial career:...
77th 77th United States Congress -Major events:* December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor* December 26, 1941: Joint session of the United States Congress met in the Senate chamber for an address by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.-Acts of Congress:... – 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	Lister Hill		Kenneth Wherry Kenneth S. Wherry Kenneth Spicer Wherry was a United States Senator from Nebraska.-Biography:He was born in Liberty, Gage County, Nebraska on February 28, 1892. 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. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1951, during the first two years...	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 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	← D Maj
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 served as a U.S. Representative, Governor and U.S. Senator for the state of Kentucky. He served as Senate Majority Whip when Lyndon Johnson was Senate Majority Leader.-Early life:...	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. Born in New York City to Irish Catholic immigrants, he was raised in Montana, where he graduated from the University of Montana in Missoula...		Everett Dirksen Everett Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen was a Republican U.S. Congressman and Senator from Pekin, Illinois. As Republican Senate leader he played a highly visible and key role in the politics of the 1960s, including helping to write and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Open Housing Act of 1968, both...
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.-Early life:Kuchel was born in Anaheim in Orange County, the son of Henry Kuchel, a newspaper editor and the former Letitia Bailey. While he was at Anaheim High School, he joined the debate team...
87th 87th United States Congress The Eighty-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, 1961 to January 3, 1963, during the first two... – 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 The Eighty-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, 1965 to January 3, 1967, during the third and fourth... – 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	Russell Long		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 and...
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 – 1971	Ted Kennedy Ted Kennedy Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in November 1962, he was elected nine times and served for 46 years in the U.S. Senate. At the time of his death, he was the second most senior member of the Senate, and...		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. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1973, during the last two years... – 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 is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia, and a member and former Senate Leader of the Democratic Party. Byrd has been a Senator since January 3, 1959 and is the longest-serving member in the Senate's history; he has been the Dean of the Senate since 2003...		Robert Griffin
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...		Ted Stevens Ted Stevens Theodore Fulton Stevens is a former United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009. Stevens was President pro tempore in the 108th and 109th Congresses from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2007...
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...	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		R Maj →	Alan Simpson Alan K. Simpson Alan Kooi Simpson is a Republican politician who served from 1979 to 1997 as a United States senator from Wyoming. His father, Milward L. Simpson, was also a member of the U.S...
100th 100th United States Congress The One Hundredth 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, 1987, to January 3, 1989, during the last two years... – 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 The One Hundred 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, 1991, to January 3, 1993, during the last two... – 103rd 103rd United States Congress The One Hundred 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, 1993 to January 3, 1995, during the first two...	1991 – 1995	Wendell Ford	← D Maj
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. He has served in numerous leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, including House Minority Whip, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate Minority Whip...
	June 12, 1996 – 1997			Don Nickles Don Nickles Donald Lee Nickles is an American businessman and political leader 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 and a member of the Democratic Party. He has been the Senate's Majority Leader since January 2007....
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, DC 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 last two years of the first administration of...	2003 – 2005		R Maj →	Mitch McConnell Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky. He was chosen by his Republican colleagues as the Minority Leader in November 2006, making him the top-ranking Republican in the 110th Congress, which convened January 3, 2007...
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 Richard Durbin Richard Joseph "Dick" Durbin is the senior United States Senator from the U.S. state of Illinois and Democratic Party Whip, the second highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate. He became Majority Whip of the U.S. Senate when the 110th Congress convened on January 4, 2007...	R Maj →
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 4, 2007 – December 18, 2007		← D Maj	Trent Lott Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott Sr. is a former United States Senator from Mississippi. He has served in numerous leadership positions in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, including House Minority Whip, Senate Majority Leader, Senate Minority Leader, and Senate Minority Whip...
	December 19, 2007 – January 3, 2009			Jon Kyl Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl is the Republican junior U.S. Senator representing Arizona. He is currently the Senate Minority Whip, tasked with maintaining party discipline. Jon Kyl was born in the Midwest and moved to Arizona for College and Law School. He later got married and launched his career in Arizona...
111th 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the...	January 3, 2009 – present
Congress(es)	Dates	Democratic Whip	Majority	Republican Whip