WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Democrats on Thursday elected leadership for a new 51-seat majority in the upcoming 118th Congress, with Michigan’s Debbie Stavenow in third and Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar in fourth. promoted to rank.
Stabenow, chairman of the Democratic Policy Communications Committee, and Klobuchar, chairman of the steering committee, will retain the same titles as they do now in Congress, but will move up in the rankings under the new changes.
The Democrats re-elected New York State Senator Chuck Schumer to the majority and elected Dick Durbin of Illinois to second in the majority.
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After the closed-door vote, Klobuchar said her approach to her role in leadership would change a bit given Democrats would increase their majority by one seat in the next Congress and Republicans would move into the majority in the House. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock won the runoff election in Georgia on Tuesday. give Democrats a 51-49 advantage More than Republicans.
“One of my jobs at Steering is to reach out to Republican leaders and make sure they are on the right track to get things done. said. “But with our new spring at our feet, and with one in the majority, I hope we can accomplish a lot more.”
Klobuchar said she and other Senate Democrats have extensive experience negotiating bipartisan deals after two years of an even split of the Senate.
“Remember, we just passed a 50-50 vote in the Senate. We know how to negotiate,” Klobuchar said.
Stabenow sees options for Republicans in the US House of Representatives
Stabenow said he plans to continue to bring Senate Democrats together on policymaking and communications, but said that having Republicans in charge of the House could change Congress.
“The House has a choice,” Stabenow said. “They could conduct investigations and try to find reasons to impeach the president, they could take extreme policies like ending Medicare or Social Security. You can also choose to accomplish the
Stabenow said the election results show that Americans want Republicans and Democrats to work together “to make their lives better.”
“And I hope that’s the choice they make,” Stabenow said of House Republicans.
As the new list of Democratic leaders posed for photos after the vote, Schumer said the group represented “a great, diverse, hard-working and effective leadership team.”
“We had a great, united meeting and were very pleased with what we achieved in the last Congress and set a strong aspiration to achieve in the next two years,” Schumer said.
Washington State Senator Patti Murray currently holds the third-place position as Democratic Party Leader’s Assistant, but that role has been dropped from the upcoming Congressional rankings.
Murray has decided to step down as party leader when she takes over as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee next year, ahead of Thursday’s leadership vote. is positioned in
The interim president slot is usually held by the party’s longest-serving legislator, California Senator Diane Feinstein, but she has decided not to claim the position.
Other Senate Democratic leadership positions in the upcoming Congress include Virginia Senator Mark Warner as Conference Vice-President, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin as Conference Clerk, and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker as Democratic Policy and Communications. Committee Vice Chair, Nevada Senator Katherine Cortez Mast. As Vice President of Outreach.
2024 election campaign
Senate Democrats will decide who will run the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee ahead of the 2024 election, when Democrats face a difficult map to increase seats for re-election in Montana, Ohio and West Virginia. did not announce.
Michigan Senator Gary Peters chaired the DSCC in the latest election cycle in which Democrats won one seat.
House Democrats I voted for a name last week Hakeem Jeffries of New York was the leader, Catherine Clarke of Massachusetts was the whip, and Pete Aguilar of California was chairman of the caucuses. All three went undefeated.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Steney Hoyer, and Rep. Jim Cliburn will step down from the top three leadership roles next year, and while the new leaders will take on their own roles, they will remain in Congress. increase.
Senate Republican voted for re-election in mid-November Led by Mitch McConnell, it rejects a challenge from Florida Senator Rick Scott. South Dakota’s John Thune will run without a vote and continue to serve as a minority whip.
House Republican voted last month to nominate Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was elected Speaker, but will demand a gavel in the next Congress unless he gets at least 218 members of Congress to vote for him in the January 3 vote of the House. I can not do it. House Republican whip since 2014 becomes majority leader.
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