Nancy Erickson is the current Secretary of the United States Senate

Secretary of the United States Senate

The Secretary of the Senate is an elected officer of the United States Senate. The Secretary supervises an extensive array of offices and services to expedite the day-to-day operations of that body...

. She began her term as Secretary on January 4, 2007 in the 110th Congress. Erickson was appointed by Democratic and Majority Leader Harry Reid

Harry Reid

Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...

 of Nevada. Prior to serving as Secretary of the Senate, Erickson served as the Democratic Representative to the Sergeant at Arms

Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate

The Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the Senate is the law enforcer for the United States Senate. One of the chief roles of the Sergeant is to hold the gavel used at every session...

. She also served as the deputy chief of staff to former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle

Tom Daschle

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle is a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. He is a member of the Democratic Party....

, (D) South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

. Erickson has a B.A. from Augustana College

Augustana College (South Dakota)

Augustana College is a private, liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States. The campus makes the school the largest private university in South Dakota...

, and a M.A. from American University

American University

American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...

.

On January 6, 2009, Erickson rejected Roland Burris

Roland Burris

Roland Wallace Burris is a former United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party....

's request to be seated as the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois. She stated that his credentials were incomplete because they were not signed by the Illinois Secretary of State, Jesse White

Jesse White (politician)

Jesse Clark White is a Democratic American politician. He is currently the 37th and second-longest serving Secretary of State of Illinois, after James A. Rose, and the first African American to hold this position....

. White refused to sign because the appointment was made by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich

Rod Blagojevich

Rod R. Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago...

, who has been charged in the Rod Blagojevich corruption scandal with seeking to personally gain from the appointment.