The positions of party floor leaders are not included
in the Constitution but developed gradually in the 20th
century. The first floor leaders were formally designated in
1920 (Democrats) and 1925 (Republicans).
The Senate Republican and Democratic floor leaders
are elected by the members of their party in the Senate at
the beginning of each Congress. Depending on which party is
in power, one serves as majority leader and the other as
minority leader. The leaders serve as spokespersons for
their party's positions on issues. The majority leader
schedules the daily legislative program and fashions the
unanimous consent agreements that govern the time for
debate.
The majority leader has the right to be called upon
first if several senators are seeking recognition by the
presiding officer, which enables him to offer motions or
amendments before any other senator.
Majority and Minority Leaders
Elected at the beginning of each Congress by members
of their respective party conferences to represent them on
the Senate floor, the majority and minority leaders serve as
spokesmen for their parties' positions on the issues.
The majority leader has also come to speak for the Senate as
an institution. Working with the committee chairs and
ranking members, the majority leader schedules business on
the floor by calling bills from the calendar and keeps
members of his party advised about the daily legislative
program. In consultation with the minority leader, the
majority leader fashions unanimous consent agreements by
which the Senate limits the amount of time for debate and
divides that time between the parties. When time limits
cannot be agreed on, the majority leader might file for
cloture to shut off debate. Occupying the front desks on the
center aisle, the two leaders coordinate party strategy and
try to keep their parties united on roll-call votes.
The leaders spend much of their time on or near the
Senate floor, to open the day's proceedings, keep
legislation moving, and protect the rights and interests of
party members. When several senators are seeking recognition
at the same time, the presiding officer in the Senate will
call on the majority leader first, then on the minority
leader, and then on the managers of the bill being debated,
in that order. This right of first recognition enables the
majority leader to offer amendments, substitutes, and
motions to reconsider before any other senator. Former
majority leader Robert C. Byrd called first recognition
"the most potent weapon in the Majority Leader's
arsenal."
The posts of majority and minority leader are not
included in the Constitution, as are the president of the
Senate (the vice president of the United States) and the
president pro tempore. Instead, party floor leadership
evolved out of necessity. During the 19th century, floor
leadership was exercised by the chair of the party
conference and the chairs of the most powerful standing
committees. In 1913, to help enact President Woodrow
Wilson's ambitious legislative program, Democratic
Conference chairman John Worth Kern of Indiana began
functioning along the lines of the modern majority leader.
In 1919, when Republicans returned to the majority,
Republican Conference chairman Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr., also
acted as floor leader. Not until 1925 did Republicans
officially designate Senator Charles Curtis of Kansas as
majority leader, separate from the conference chair. (Five
years earlier, the Democrats had specifically named Oscar
Underwood of Alabama as minority leader.)
Although party floor leadership posts carry great
responsibility, they provide few specific powers. Instead,
floor leaders have largely had to depend on their individual
skill, intelligence, and personality. Majority leaders seek
to balance the needs of senators of both parties to express
their views fully on a bill with the pressures to move the
bill as quickly as possible toward enactment. These
conflicting demands have required majority leaders to
develop skills in compromise, accommodation, and diplomacy.
Lyndon Johnson, who held the post in the 1950s, once said
that the greatest power of the majority leader was "the
power of persuasion."
The majority leader usually works closely with the
minority leader so that, as Senator Bob Dole explained,
"we never surprise each other on the floor." The
party leaders meet frequently with the president and with
the leaders of the House of Representatives. The majority
leader also greets foreign dignitaries visiting the Capitol.
