House Democratic Caucus

The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus composed of all Democratic Representatives in the United States House of Representatives and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadership in the chamber. In its roles as a party conference, the caucus writes and enforces rules of conduct and discipline for its members, approves committee assignments, and serves as the primary forum for development of party policy and legislative priorities. It hosts weekly meetings for these purposes and to communicate the party's message to members. The caucus has a Caucus Chairman and Caucus Vice-Chair (formerly called the Secretary).

For the 116th Congress, which began in 2019, Hakeem Jeffries of New York serves as Chair, with Katherine Clark of Massachusetts as Vice-Chair.

Leadership history

The forerunner of the House Democratic Caucus, the Democratic-Republican caucus, was established on April 2, 1796, to stop a treaty with Great Britain which unfairly treated American sailors. For many years, through 1820, it nominated presidential candidates (before the era of national nominating conventions).

Since 2003, the House Democratic Leader has been Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California (the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history).[1] She has served twice as Speaker, from 2007 - 2011 and from 2019 to present.

At the Organizational Meeting on November 18, 2008, of the Democratic Caucus for the 111th Congress, Representative John B. Larson (D-Connecticut) was elected Caucus Chairman by acclamation. The election was presided over by the outgoing chairman of the Democratic Caucus for the 110th Congress, former Representative Rahm Emanuel (D-Illinois). Rep. Larson officially assumed the position of chairman on the first day of the 111th Congress, January 3, 2009.

After his election as chairman at the Organizational Meeting on November 18, Chairman Larson presided over the election of Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-California), who defeated Representative Marcy Kaptur of Ohio by a vote count of 175 to 67. Rep. Becerra likewise assumed his vice-chairmanship on January 3.

List of Caucus Chairmen

Officeholder	State	Congress	Term
James Thompson	Pennsylvania	31st	1849–1851
N/A[2]		32nd	1851–1853
Edson B. Olds	Ohio	33rd	1853–1855
George Washington Jones	Tennessee	34th	1855–1857
N/A[3]		35th	1857–1859
George S. Houston	Alabama	36th	1859–1861
N/A[4]		37th–40th	1861–1869
William E. Niblack, Samuel J. Randall[5]	Indiana, Pennsylvania	41st	1869–1871
N/A[6]		42nd	1871–1873
William E. Niblack	Indiana	43rd	1873–1875
Lucius Q.C. Lamar	Mississippi	44th	1875–1877
Hiester Clymer	Pennsylvania	45th	1877–1879
John F. House	Tennessee	46th	1879–1881
N/A[7]		47th	1881–1883
George W. Geddes	Ohio	48th	1883–1885
J. Randolph Tucker	Virginia	49th	1885–1887
Samuel S. Cox[8]	New York	50th	1887–1889
William S. Holman	Indiana	51st–53rd	1889–1895
David B. Culberson	Texas	54th	1895–1897
James D. Richardson	Tennessee	55th	1897–1899
James Hay	Virginia	56th–58th	1899–1905
Robert L. Henry	Texas	59th	1905–1907
Henry D. Clayton[9]	Alabama	60th–61st	1907–1911
Albert S. Burleson	Texas	62nd	1911–1913
A. Mitchell Palmer	Pennsylvania	63rd	1913–1915
Edward W. Saunders	Virginia	64th–65th	1915–1919
Arthur G. DeWalt	Pennsylvania	66th	1919–1921
Sam Rayburn	Texas	67th	1921–1923
Henry T. Rainey	Illinois	68th	1923–1925
Charles D. Carter	Oklahoma	69th	1925–1927
Arthur H. Greenwood	Indiana	70th	1927–1929
David H. Kincheloe	Kentucky	71st	1929–1930[10]
William W. Arnold	Illinois	72nd	1931–1933
Clarence F. Lea	California	73rd	1933–1935
Edward T. Taylor	Colorado	74th	1935–1937
Robert L. Doughton	North Carolina	75th	1937–1939
John W. McCormack	Massachusetts	76th	1939–1940[11]
Richard M. Duncan	Missouri	77th	1941–1943
Harry R. Sheppard	California	78th	1943–1945
Jere Cooper	Tennessee	79th	1945–1947
Aime J. Forand	Rhode Island	80th	1947–1949
Francis E. Walter	Pennsylvania	81st	1949–1951
Jere Cooper	Tennessee	82nd	1951–1953
Wilbur D. Mills	Arkansas	83rd	1953–1955
John J. Rooney	New York	84th	1955–1957
Melvin Price	Illinois	85th–86th	1957–1961
Francis E. Walter[12]	Pennsylvania	87th–88th	1961–1963
Albert Thomas	Texas	88th	1964–1965
Eugene Keogh	New York	89th	1965–1967
Dan Rostenkowski	Illinois	90th–91st	1967–1971
Olin Teague	Texas	92nd–93rd	1971–1975
Phillip Burton	California	94th	1976–1977
Thomas S. Foley	Washington	95th–96th	1977–1981
Gillis W. Long	Louisiana	97th–98th	1981–1985
Richard A. Gephardt	Missouri	99th–100th	1985–1989
William H. Gray III	Pennsylvania	101st	1989
Steny H. Hoyer	Maryland	101st–103rd	1989–1995[13]
Vic Fazio	California	104th–105th	1995–1999
Martin Frost	Texas	106th–107th	1999–2003
Bob Menendez	New Jersey	108th–109th	2003–2006[14]
James Clyburn	South Carolina	109th	2006–2007
Rahm Emanuel	Illinois	110th	2007–2009
John B. Larson	Connecticut	111th–112th	2009–2013
Xavier Becerra	California	113th–114th	2013–2017
Joe Crowley	New York	115th	2017–2019
Hakeem Jeffries	New York	116th	2019–present[15]

This list may be incomplete.

• Chase G. Woodhouse (1949–1951)
• Edna F. Kelly (1953–1957, 1964)
• Leonor K. Sullivan (1959–1975, except 1964)
• Patsy Mink (1975–1977)
• Shirley Chisholm (1977–1981)
• Geraldine Ferraro (1981–1985)
• Mary Rose Oakar (1985–1987)

List of Vice-Chairs

• Mary Rose Oakar (1987–1989)[16]
• Steny Hoyer (1989)[17]
• Vic Fazio (1989–1995)
• Barbara B. Kennelly (1995–1999)
• Bob Menendez (1999–2003)
• Jim Clyburn (2003–2005)
• John B. Larson (2006–2009)
• Xavier Becerra (2009–2012)
• Joe Crowley (2012–2017)
• Linda Sánchez (2017–2019)
• Katherine Clark (2019–present)

References

1. "Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi". Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
2. No clear records remain for this Congress.
3. No clear records remain for this Congress.
4. No clear records remain for these Congresses.
5. Caucus records show Representative Niblack and Representative Randall as both having served as chairman during the Congress, but no dates of service were specified.
6. Representative Fernando Wood of New York nominated the Democratic leadership slate in the House, but there is no other evidence to show he was elected caucus chairman.
7. Available data show that Representative John F. House nominated Samuel J. Randall as the Democratic candidate for Speaker, the traditional role of the caucus chairman. Later data show W.S. Rosecrans issuing the next call for a Democratic Caucus meeting, but there is no evidence to suggest that Rosecrans was actually elected caucus chairman.
8. Former Parliamentarian Clarence Cannon's notes state "Cox died during this Congress and [Representative James B.] McCreary evidently succeeded or acted for him." However, Representative Cox died on September 10, 1889, six months after the sine die adjournment of the 50th Congress and the convening of the 51st Congress.
9. Caucus records are contradictory for this period. They show the election of Representative James Hay as chairman on January 19, 1911, but do not mention a resignation by incumbent chairman Clayton, nor do they specify that Hay was elected chairman for the new Congress. Later, they show the election of Representative Albert S. Burleson on April 11, 1911.
10. Resigned from the House, October 5, 1930; there is no record of an election to fill the vacancy as caucus chair.
11. Resigned following election as majority (floor) leader, September 16, 1940; records do not indicate that a successor was chosen during the remainder of the Congress.
12. Died in office, May 31, 1963. Caucus chairman post vacant until January 21, 1964.
13. Representative Hoyer was elected Caucus Chairman on June 21, 1989, following the June 14, 1989, election of Representative William (Bill) H. Gray III as Majority Whip.
14. On January 16, 2006, Representative Menendez resigned from the House after he was appointed to the Senate.
15. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/28/hakeem-jeffries-defeats-barbara-lee-in-battle-for-dem-caucus-chair-1023797
16. "Center for American Women and Politics" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
17. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-04. Retrieved 2011-07-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

See also

• Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives
• Congressional caucus

External links

• Official site of the Democratic Caucus