House Democratic Caucus

House Democratic Caucus
House Democratic Caucus
Part of	United States House of Representatives
Floor Leader	Hakeem Jeffries
Floor Whip	Katherine Clark
Chair	Pete Aguilar (CA)
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Center-left
Affiliation	Democratic Party
Colors	Blue
Seats	215 / 435
Website
	dems.gov

The House Democratic Caucus is a congressional caucus made up of all Democratic representatives in the United States House of Representatives, voting and non-voting,^[1] and is responsible for nominating and electing the Democratic Party leadership in the chamber.

The caucus writes and forces rules of conduct for its members, approves committee assignments, and serves as the main meeting space for party policy and legislative priorities.

Current leadership

Effective with the start of the 118th Congress, the chain of command conference leadership is as follows (from highest to lowest):

Hakeem Jeffries (NY) as House Minority Leader (Caucus Leader)
Katherine Clark (MA) as House Minority Whip
Pete Aguilar (CA) as Caucus Chairman
Ted Lieu (CA) as Caucus Vice Chair

Leaders of the House Democratic Caucus

Congress	Leader		District	Took office	Left office
20th		Andrew Stevenson (1784–1857)	Virginia 9	December 3, 1827	June 2, 1834^[a]	Himself 1827–1834
21st
22nd
23rd			Virginia 11
23rd		John Bell (1796–1869)	Tennessee 7	June 2, 1834	March 4, 1835	Himself 1834–1835
24th		James K. Polk (1795–1849)	Tennessee 9	December 7, 1835	March 4, 1839	Himself 1835–1839
25th		James K. Polk (1795–1849)	Tennessee 9	December 7, 1835	March 4, 1839	Himself 1835–1839
26th	Unknown^[b]					Hunter 1839–1841
27th	Unknown^[b]					White 1841–1843
28th		John Winston Jones (1791–1848)	Virginia 6	December 4, 1843	March 4, 1845	Himself 1843–1845
29th		John Wesley Davis (1799–1859)	Indiana 6	December 1, 1845	March 4, 1847	Himself 1845–1847
30th	Unknown^[b]					Winthrop 1847–1849
31st		Howell Cobb (1815–1868)	Georgia 6	December 22, 1849	March 4, 1851	Himself 1849–1851
32nd		Linn Boyd (1800–1859)	Kentucky 1	December 1, 1851	March 4, 1855	Himself 1851–1855
33rd		Linn Boyd (1800–1859)	Kentucky 1	December 1, 1851	March 4, 1855	Himself 1851–1855
34th		George Washington Jones (1806–1884)	Tennessee 6	March 4, 1855	March 4, 1857	Banks 1856–1857
35th		James Lawrence Orr (1822–1873)	South Carolina 5	December 7, 1857	March 3, 1859	Himself 1857–1859
36th		George S. Houston (1811–1879)	Alabama 5	March 4, 1859	January 21, 1861^[c]	Pennington 1860–1861
37th	Unknown^[d]					Grow 1861–1863
38th	Unknown^[d]					Colfax 1863–1869
39th	Unknown^[d]
40th	Unknown^[d]
40th	Unknown^[d]					Pomeroy 1869
41st		Samuel J. Randall (1828–1890)	Pennsylvania 1	March 4, 1869	March 3, 1871	Blaine 1869–1875
41st		William E. Niblack (1822–1893)	Indiana 1	March 4, 1869	March 3, 1871
42nd	Unknown^[b]
43rd		William E. Niblack (1822–1893)	Indiana 1	March 4, 1873	March 3, 1875
44th		Michael C. Kerr (1827–1876)	Indiana 3	December 6, 1875	August 19, 1876^[e]	Himself 1875–1876
44th		Samuel J. Randall (1828–1890)	Pennsylvania 3	December 4, 1876	March 3, 1881	Himself 1876–1881
45th
46th
47th	Unknown^[b]					Keifer 1881–1883
48th		John G. Carlisle (1834–1910)	Kentucky 6	December 3, 1883	March 3, 1889	Himself 1883–1889
49th
50th
51st		William S. Holman (1822–1897)	Indiana 4	March 4, 1889	March 3, 1891	Reed 1889–1891
52nd		Charles Frederick Crisp (1845–1896)	Georgia 3	December 8, 1891	March 3, 1895	Himself 1891–1895
53rd		Charles Frederick Crisp (1845–1896)	Georgia 3	December 8, 1891	March 3, 1895	Himself 1891–1895
54th		David B. Culberson (1830–1900)	Texas 4	March 4, 1895	March 3, 1897	Reed 1895–1899
55th		James D. Richardson (1843–1914)	Tennessee 5	March 4, 1897	March 3, 1903	Reed 1895–1899
56th						Henderson 1899–1903
57th						Henderson 1899–1903
58th		John Sharp Williams (1854–1932)	Mississippi 8	March 4, 1903	March 3, 1909	Cannon 1903–1911
59th
60th
61st		Champ Clark (1850–1921)	Missouri 9	March 4, 1909	March 2, 1921^[e]
62nd						Himself 1911–1919
63rd
64th
65th
66th						Gillett 1919–1925
67th		Claude Kitchin (1869–1923)	North Carolina 2	March 4, 1921	March 4, 1923
68th		Finis J. Garrett (1875–1956)	Tennessee 9	March 4, 1923	March 3, 1929
69th						Longworth 1925–1931
70th
71st		John Nance Garner (1868–1967)	Texas 15	March 4, 1929	March 3, 1933^[f]
72nd		John Nance Garner (1868–1967)	Texas 15	March 4, 1929	March 3, 1933^[f]	Himself 1931–1933
73rd		Henry Thomas Rainey (1860–1934)	Illinois 20	March 9, 1933	August 19, 1934^[e]	Himself 1933–1934
74th		Jo Byrns (1869–1936)	Tennessee 5	January 3, 1935	June 4, 1936^[e]	Himself 1935–1936
74th		William B. Bankhead (1874–1940)	Alabama 7	June 4, 1936	September 15, 1940^[e]	Himself 1936–1940
75th
76th
76th		Sam Rayburn (1882–1961)	Texas 4	September 16, 1940	November 16, 1961^[e]	Himself 1940–1947
77th
78th
79th
80th						Martin 1947–1949
81st						Himself 1949–1953
82nd						Himself 1949–1953
83rd						Martin 1953–1955
84th						Himself 1955–1961
85th
86th
87th
87th		John W. McCormack (1891–1980)	Massachusetts 12	January 10, 1962	January 3, 1971	Himself 1962–1971
88th			Massachusetts 9
89th
90th
91st
92nd		Carl Albert (1908–2000)	Oklahoma 3	January 21, 1971	January 3, 1977	Himself 1971–1977
93rd
94th
95th		Tip O'Neill (1912–1994)	Massachusetts 8	January 4, 1977	January 3, 1987	Himself 1977–1987
96th
97th
98th
99th
100th		Jim Wright (1922–2015)	Texas 12	January 6, 1987	June 6, 1989^[a]	Himself 1987–1989
101st		Jim Wright (1922–2015)	Texas 12	January 6, 1987	June 6, 1989^[a]	Himself 1987–1989
101st		Tom Foley (1929–2013)	Washington 5	June 6, 1989	January 3, 1995	Himself 1989–1995
102nd
103rd
104th		Dick Gephardt (born 1941)	Missouri 3	January 3, 1995	January 3, 2003	Gingrich 1995–1999
105th						Gingrich 1995–1999
106th						Hastert 1999–2007
107th
108th		Nancy Pelosi (born 1940)	California 8	January 3, 2003	January 3, 2023
109th
110th						Herself 2007–2011
111th						Herself 2007–2011
112th						Boehner 2011–2015
113th			California 12
114th
114th						Ryan 2015–2019
115th						Ryan 2015–2019
116th						Herself 2019–2023
117th						Herself 2019–2023
118th		Hakeem Jeffries (born 1970)	New York 8	January 3, 2023	Incumbent	McCarthy 2023
						McHenry^[g] 2023
						Johnson 2023–present
119th						Johnson 2023–present

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Resigned from office and from Congress.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Whoever held this office during this Congress is unknown.
↑ Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, and Houston withdrew from Congress ten days later on January 21.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Whoever held this office during this Congress is unknown, although it was likely vacant due to the American Civil War.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 ^5.5 Died in office.
↑ Resigned to become Vice President of the United States.
↑ This person served as speaker pro tempore.

References

↑ "Rules of the Democratic Caucus". House Democrats. p. 5. Retrieved 9 March 2023. Rule 1. Caucus Membership A. All Members of the House of Representatives, the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, and the Delegates from American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands who are Members of the Democratic Party shall be prima facie Members of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives.

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[resigned-2] 1.0 ^1.1 Resigned from office and from Congress.

[unknown-3] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Whoever held this office during this Congress is unknown.

[4] Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, and Houston withdrew from Congress ten days later on January 21.

[vacant_civil_war-5] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 Whoever held this office during this Congress is unknown, although it was likely vacant due to the American Civil War.

[died-6] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 ^5.3 ^5.4 ^5.5 Died in office.

[7] Resigned to become Vice President of the United States.

[protem-8] This person served as speaker pro tempore.

[1] "Rules of the Democratic Caucus". House Democrats. p. 5. Retrieved 9 March 2023. Rule 1. Caucus Membership A. All Members of the House of Representatives, the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, and the Delegates from American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands who are Members of the Democratic Party shall be prima facie Members of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives.

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