By Mary Ellen McIntire
CQ-Roll Call
(cQ-Roll Call) — Senate Democrats on Tuesday approved their leadership team for the next Congress, with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar elevated to the No. 3 spot as the chair of the Steering and Policy Committee.
She joins New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, who will continue to lead the soon-to-be minority party for a fifth term, and Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin, who will continue in his longtime role as the Democratic whip. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is also moving up in the ranks, to the No. 4 spot as chair of the Strategic Communications Committee.
The full leadership slate was unanimously approved during a closed-door conference meeting, according to a Senate Democratic leadership source.
“I am honored and humbled to be chosen by my colleagues to continue leading Senate Democrats during this crucial period for our country,” Schumer said in a statement. “Our caucus has led the way in passing historic legislation that has improved the lives of millions of Americans and we remain laser focused on addressing the most pressing challenges facing our country.”
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Rounding out the leadership team are Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia as vice chairs of the conference; Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, as chair of outreach; Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin as conference secretary; Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada as vice chair of outreach; and Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Christopher S. Murphy of Connecticut as deputy conference secretaries.
The elections come nearly a month after Republicans flipped the chamber in the November elections. Republicans will start the new Congress with 53 seats in the Senate, compared with 47 for Democrats and independents who caucus with them. Still, Democrats held on to several competitive seats last month, including in Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona.
As their party nationally wrestles with losing the White House, the Senate and falling just short of flipping the House, Democrats on Capitol Hill have largely kept their leadership teams intact heading into the new year. In addition to Schumer and Durbin remaining at the top of their caucus, House Democrats also reelected their top leaders last month.
Senate Republicans held their leadership elections last month, picking South Dakota’s John Thune as the next majority leader. He will take over from longtime party leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Schumer said in his statement that Senate Democrats would look to work with Republicans as they transition to the minority but that his conference would “continue to fight for what’s best for America’s working class.”
“As I have long said, our preference is to secure bipartisan solutions wherever possible and look for ways to collaborate with our Republican colleagues to help working families,” he said. “However, our Republican colleagues should make no mistake about it, we will always stand up for our values.”
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