Majority leader
Encyclopedia
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative
body.
In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
. The position of Majority Leader of the House of Representatives
is something of a misnomer then, as the title is given to the majority party's second in command.
In the United States Senate
, its president is ex officio the Vice-President of the United States, and the President pro tempore
is a largely ceremonial position, so the majority leader is the actual leader of the majority party.
The role of majority leaders thus differs slightly between the two chambers.
Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the majority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat.
The majority leader is often assisted in his role by whips
, whose job is to enforce party discipline
on votes deemed to be crucial by the party leadership and to ensure that members do not vote in a way not approved of by the party. Some votes are deemed to be so crucial as to lead to punitive measures (such as demotion from choice committee assignments) if the party line is violated; decisions such as these are often made by the majority leader in conjunction with other senior party leaders.
In the various states, the majority leader of a state legislative chamber usually performs a similar role to the federal counterpart.
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
body.
In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
. The position of Majority Leader of the House of Representatives
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives
Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives are elected by their respective parties in a closed-door caucus by secret ballot and are also known as floor leaders. The U.S. House of Representatives does not officially use the term "Minority Leader", although the media frequently does...
is something of a misnomer then, as the title is given to the majority party's second in command.
In the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, its president is ex officio the Vice-President of the United States, and the President pro tempore
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
The President pro tempore is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate. The United States Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate and the highest-ranking official of the Senate despite not being a member of the body...
is a largely ceremonial position, so the majority leader is the actual leader of the majority party.
The role of majority leaders thus differs slightly between the two chambers.
Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the majority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat.
The majority leader is often assisted in his role by whips
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
, whose job is to enforce party discipline
Party discipline
Party discipline is the ability of a parliamentary group of a political party to get its members to support the policies of their party leadership. In liberal democracies, it usually refers to the control that party leaders have over its legislature...
on votes deemed to be crucial by the party leadership and to ensure that members do not vote in a way not approved of by the party. Some votes are deemed to be so crucial as to lead to punitive measures (such as demotion from choice committee assignments) if the party line is violated; decisions such as these are often made by the majority leader in conjunction with other senior party leaders.
In the various states, the majority leader of a state legislative chamber usually performs a similar role to the federal counterpart.
See also
- Specific majority leaders
- Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
- Majority Leader of the United States Senate
- Minority leaderMinority leaderIn U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...