Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives.html

United States
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the United States

Federal government Constitution Taxation Legislature Congress House Speaker Party Leaders Congressional districts Senate President pro tempore Party Leaders Presidency President Vice President Cabinet Federal agencies Judiciary Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties Subdivisions State government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government
Other countries · Atlas US Government Portal view • talk •

Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door (private) caucus.

The Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives acts as the leader of the party that has a majority of the seats in the house (currently at least 218 of the 435 seats). They work with the Speaker of the House and the Majority Whip to coordinate ideas and maintain support for legislation.

The role of the majority leader has been defined by history and tradition. This officer is charged with scheduling legislation for floor consideration; planning the daily, weekly, and annual legislative agendas; consulting with Members to gauge party sentiment; and, in general, working to advance the goals of the majority party.

The office of Majority Leader was created in 1899 by Speaker David B. Henderson for Sereno Payne. Henderson saw a need for a party leader on the House floor separate from the Speaker, as the role of Speaker had become more nationally prominent and the size of the House had grown from 105 at the beginning of the century to 356. In addition to distributing the responsibility of running the House, the existence of the Majority Leader allows the Speaker to criticize his or her own party when he considers it politically necessary.

Before 1899, the majority party floor leader had traditionally been the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the most powerful committee in the House, as it generates the Bills of Revenue specified in the Constitution as the House's unique power.^[1]

The Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives serves as floor leader of the opposition party, and is the minority counterpart to the Majority Leader. Generally, the minority leader is on the ballot for Speaker of the House during the convening of the Congress. He or she is usually the party's top choice for Speaker if party control flips after an election. The minority leader usually meets with the Majority Leader and the Speaker to discuss agreements on controversial issues.

The current House majority leader is Steny Hoyer, while the current House minority leader is John Boehner.

List of Party Leaders

(Names in Bold indicate The Majority Leaders, names in Italics indicate Speakers of the House for context.)

Congress(es)	Dates	Democratic Leader	District	Speaker		Republican Leader	District
56th–57th	1899–1903	James Richardson	Tennessee-5		David B. Henderson	Sereno E. Payne	New York
58th–60th	1903–1908	John Sharp Williams	Mississippi-8		Joseph Gurney Cannon
60th–61st	1908–1911	Champ Clark	Missouri-9		Joseph Gurney Cannon
62nd–63rd	1911–1915	Oscar W. Underwood	Alabama	Champ Clark		James Mann	Illinois-2
64th–65th	1915–1919	Claude Kitchin	North Carolina-2	Champ Clark		James Mann	Illinois-2
66th	1919–1921	Champ Clark	Missouri-9		Frederick Gillett	Frank W. Mondell	Wyoming
67th	1921–1923	Claude Kitchin	North Carolina-2			Frank W. Mondell	Wyoming
68th	1923–1925	Finis Garrett	Tennessee-9			Nicholas Longworth	Ohio
69th–70th	1925–1929	Finis Garrett	Tennessee-9		Nicholas Longworth	John Q. Tilson	Connecticut
71st	1929–1931	John Nance Garner	Texas-15		Nicholas Longworth	John Q. Tilson	Connecticut
72nd	1931–1933	Henry T. Rainey	Illinois-20	John Nance Garner		Bertrand Snell	New York-31
73rd	1933–1935	Joseph Byrns	Tennessee	Henry T. Rainey
74th	1935–1937	William B. Bankhead	Alabama-6	Joseph Byrns
75th	1937–1939	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4	William Bankhead
76th	1939–1941	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4	William Bankhead		Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
77th–79th	1941–1947	John William McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Sam Rayburn		Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
80th	1947–1949	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4		Joseph Martin	Charles A. Halleck	Indiana-2
81st–82nd	1949–1953	John William McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Sam Rayburn		Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
83rd	1953–1955	Sam Rayburn	Texas-4		Joseph Martin	Charles A. Halleck	Indiana-2
84th–85th	1955–1959	John William McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Sam Rayburn		Joseph Martin	Massachusetts-14
86th	1959–1961	John William McCormack	Massachusetts-12	Sam Rayburn		Charles Halleck	Indiana-2
87th–88th	1961–1965	Carl Albert	Oklahoma-3	John William McCormack		Charles Halleck	Indiana-2
89th–91st	1965–1971	Carl Albert	Oklahoma-3	John William McCormack		Gerald Ford	Michigan-5
92nd	1971–1973	Hale Boggs	Louisiana-2	Carl Albert		Gerald Ford	Michigan-5
93rd–94th	1973–1977	Tip O'Neill	Massachusetts-8	Carl Albert		John Rhodes	Arizona-1
95th–96th	1977–1981	Jim Wright	Texas-12	Tip O'Neill		John Rhodes	Arizona-1
97th–99th	1981–1987	Jim Wright	Texas-12	Tip O'Neill		Robert Michel	Illinois-18
100th	1987–1989	Tom Foley	Washington-5	Jim Wright
101st–103rd	1989–1995	Dick Gephardt	Missouri-3	Tom Foley
104th–105th	1995–1999	Dick Gephardt			Newt Gingrich	Dick Armey	Texas-26
106th–107th	1999–2003	Dick Gephardt			Dennis Hastert	Dick Armey	Texas-26
108th–109th	2003–2005	Nancy Pelosi	California-8			Tom DeLay	Texas-22
109th	2005–2006					Roy Blunt (acting)	Missouri-7
109th	2006–2007					John Boehner	Ohio-8
110th	2007–	Steny Hoyer	Maryland-5	Nancy Pelosi		John Boehner	Ohio-8
Congress(es)	Dates	Democratic Leader	District	Speaker		Republican Leader	District

Notes

^ Richard E. Berg-Andersson, "A Brief History of Congressional Leadership", online posting, The Green Papers (self-published website & blog), last updated June 7, 2001. Accessed January 5, 2006.

External links

v • d • e United States Congress (House of Representatives, Senate — 110th Congress)

Members	Congress: Current, Freshmen, Longest serving \| House: Current by seniority, Former members, Oldest living \| Senate: Current by age, Current by seniority; Former, Former still living, Age/seniority, Expelled/censured, Classes

Leaders	House: Speaker (list), Party leaders, Party whips, Dem. caucus, Rep. conference, Dean \| Senate: President pro tempore (list), Party leaders, Assistant party leaders, Dem. Caucus (Chair, Secretary, Policy comm. chair), Rep. Conference (Chair, Vice-Chair, Policy comm. chair), Dean

Groups	African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, Caucuses, Committees, Hispanic Americans, Senate Women, House Women

Agencies, Employees & Offices	Architect of the Capitol, Capitol Guide Service (board), Capitol Police (board), Chiefs of Staff, GAO, Government Printing Office, Law Revision Counsel, Librarian of Congress, Poet laureate \| House: Chaplain, Chief Administrative Officer, Clerk, Doorkeeper, Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations, Historian, Page (board), Parliamentarian, Postmaster, Reading clerk, Recording Studio, Sergeant at Arms \| Senate: Chaplain, Curator, Historian, Librarian, Page, Parliamentarian, Secretary, Sergeant at Arms

Politics & Procedure	Act of Congress (list), Caucuses, Committees, Hearings, Joint session, Oversight, Party divisions, Rider, Sponsorship \| House: Committees, History, Procedures, Mace of the House \| Senate: Committees, Filibuster, History, Jefferson's Manual, Traditions, VPs' tie-breaking votes

Buildings	Botanic Garden, Capitol, Capitol Complex, Office buildings (House: Cannon, Ford, Longworth, Rayburn, O'Neill (demolished), Senate: Dirksen, Hart, Russell)

Research	Biographical directory, Congressional Quarterly, Congressional Record, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress (Law Library, Copyright Office), The Hill, Roll Call, THOMAS

Misc	List of lists, Congressional districts (by area), Power of enforcement, Scandals

Websites: House of Representatives \| Senate

v • d • e Majority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives

Payne • Underwood • Kitchin • Mondell • Longworth • Tilson • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • McCormack • Halleck • McCormack • Halleck • McCormack • Albert • Boggs • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gephardt • Armey • DeLay • Blunt (acting) • Boehner • Hoyer

v • d • e Minority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives

Richardson • Williams • Clark • Mann • Clark • Kitchin • Garrett • Garner • Snell • Martin • Rayburn • Martin • Rayburn • Martin • Halleck • Ford • Rhodes • Michel • Gephardt • Pelosi • Boehner

v • d • e Democratic Party Leaders in the United States House of Representatives

Richardson • Williams • Clark • Underwood • Kitchin • Clark • Kitchin • Garret • Garner • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • McCormack • Rayburn • McCormack • Rayburn • McCormack • Albert • Boggs • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gephardt • Pelosi • Hoyer

v • d • e Republican Party Leaders in the United States House of Representatives

Payne • Mann • Mondell • Longworth • Tilson • Snell • Martin • Halleck • Martin • Halleck • Martin • Halleck • Ford • Rhodes • Michel • Armey • DeLay • Bluntⁱ • Boehner

(i) - interim