List of United States Senators
Each state elects two senators. Until
1913 Senators were chosen by the state legislatures. In
1913, the
17th Amendment to the
United States Constitution provided for the direct popular election of senators.
The current party composition of the Senate is:\n* 51
Republicanss\n* 48
Democratss\n* 1 Independent
See also:
Senate office-bearers
Leadership
The Vice President of the United States also serves as President of the Senate and is empowered with the duty of presiding over all proceedings and breaking tie votes. However, in practice, the Vice President rarely enters the Senate chamber, and the members of the Senate choose a President pro tempore (usually the most senior member of the majority party) to stand in the Vice President's absence. However, even the President pro tempore delegates his duties as presiding officer in the Senate chamber to junior members because (unlike in the House) the presiding officer is accorded with little authority.
The agenda of the Senate is determined by the Majority floor leader (leader of the party with a majority of seats), who is assisted by a Majority whip (responsible for "whipping" party members in line). Their counterparts across the aisle are the Minority floor leader and Minority whip.
When the major parties are evenly split, the party affiliation of the Vice President, as the tie-breaker vote, determines which is the majority party.
{| table border="1" cellpadding="2"\n! Position !! Name !! Party !! State !! Since\n|-\n| President || Richard B. Cheney (ex officio, Vice President of the United States || Republican || Wyoming || 2001\n|-\n| President Pro Tempore || Theodore F. Stevens || Republican || Alaska || 2003\n|}
Majority Leadership
\n{| table border="1" cellpadding="2"\n! Position !! Name !! Party !! State !! Since\n|-\n| Majority Leader || William H. Frist || Republican || Tennessee || 2001\n|-\n| Republican Whip || A. Mitchell McConnell Jr || Republican || Kentucky || 2003\n|-\n| Republican Conference Chairman || Richard J. Santorum || Republican || Pennsylvania || 2001\n|-\n| Republican Policy Committee Chairman || Jon L. Kyl || Republican || Arizona || 2003\n|-\n| Republican Conference Secretary || Kay Bailey Hutchison || Republican || Texas || 2001\n|-\n| Republican Campaign Committee Chairman || George F. Allen Jr || Republican || Virginia || 2003\n|}
Minority Leadership
\n{| table border="1" cellpadding="2"\n! Position !! Name !! Party !! State !! Since\n|-\n| Minority Leader || Thomas A. Daschle || Democratic || South Dakota || 2003 (Dem. Leader since 1994)\n|-\n| Democratic Whip || Harry M. Reid || Democratic || Nevada || 1999\n|-\n| Democratic Conference Chairman || Thomas A. Daschle (also Democratic leader) || Democratic || South Dakota || 2003\n|-\n| Democratic Policy Committee Chairman || Byron L. Dorgan || Democratic || North Dakota || 1999\n|-\n| Democratic Conference Secretary || Barbara A. Mikulski || Demcoratic || Maryland || 1995\n|-\n| Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman || Jon S. Corzine || Democratic || New Jersey || 2003\n|}\nList of Current Members of the United States Senate
\n
See also
\n*List of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives\n*
List of former members of the U.S. Senate\nUnited States senators\n*
