Schumer elected to lead Democratic Senate majority

Senate Democrats unanimously appointed Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York to lead the party’s 51-49 seat majority in the Senate once again on Thursday. The closed-door meeting ended quickly and featured no challengers. Schumer has led Senate Democrats since 2016 and became Senate majority leader in the weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot when the party gained a majority. Senate Democrats reelected Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois to another term as the Democratic whip and gave the No. 3 position to Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

What’s happening with Republican leadership? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell last month faced a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida for the Republican top spot. McConnell won the vote 37-10, with a 48th senator simply voting present. Republicans had discussed their leadership options after failing to gather a majority of seats in the Senate during last month’s midterm elections.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew about what the rest of the year looks like for Congress.