The Democratic Caucus of the United States Senate, sometimes referred to as the Senate Democratic Caucus, Democratic Conference, or simply Senate Democrats, 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 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
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Current leadership
Effective with the start of the 119th Congress, the conference leadership is as follows:
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
Democratic Whip Dick Durbin
Chair of Steering and Policy Committee Amy Klobuchar
Chair of Strategic Communications Committee Cory Booker
Vice Chair of the Caucus Elizabeth Warren
Vice Chair of the Caucus Mark Warner
Chair of Outreach Bernie Sanders
Caucus Secretary Tammy Baldwin
Vice Chair of Outreach Catherine Cortez Masto
Deputy Caucus Secretary Brian Schatz
Deputy Caucus Secretary Chris Murphy
Vice Chair of Steering and Policy Committee Jeanne Shaheen
Vice Chair of Strategic Communications Committee Tina Smith
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.
Vice chairs
Bob Kerrey was appointed as the first vice chair of Senate Democrats for the 106th Congress. Harry Reid later converted the role as an elected leadership position for Chuck Schumer after his successful term as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Schumer later ascended to Reid's position as leader following the 2016 elections. The position was then split, with one co-chair awarded to Mark Warner and the other awarded to Elizabeth Warren.
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.
The first conference secretary was Thomas B. Turley.
The current conference secretary is Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who assumed the office in January 2017.
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. This was an elevation from his previous leadership role as Senate Democratic chief deputy whip. On January 3, 2025, Chris Murphy was also appointed to this position.