List of United States Senators
Each state elects two senators to the United States Senate. 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:
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.
Majority Leadership
Minority Leadership
List of Current Members of the United States Senate
See also
