Schumer reelected as Senate majority leader

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was reelected by his caucus Thursday to lead Democrats for a second term.

It happened during a private meeting in the Capitol as the caucus also chose to keep most of the rest of existing leadership team intact, in the wake of a better-than-expected midterm election as Democrats retained majority control in the chamber.

Only Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, who will be the president pro tempore and chair of the Appropriations Committee, will not serve on the leadership team anymore, after serving in the number three role for many years. As pro tempore, she will be the third in line of presidential succession. She gets that position based on her seniority and because Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who is the only person senior to her, declined to take the position.

Schumer and the rest of the leadership slate were unanimously elected by the Senate Democratic Caucus to serve in the 118th Congress, according to a source in the room.

Schumer, a veteran lawmaker from New York, made history in 2021 by becoming the first elected Jewish Senate majority leader.

The election comes as the party won a slim two-seat majority over GOP in the 118th Congress, after Sen. Raphael Warnock held his seat in Georgia earlier this week. This will be the first Congress in which Schumer will hold an outright majority after Democrats faced a 50-50 partisan split during the last two years, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to step in to break ties.

In Thursday’s meeting, Democrats reelected senators to top leadership roles, including Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin as majority whip and Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow as chair of Policy and Communications Committee.

Here is the full Democratic leadership slate: