U.S. Government UNIT 2: THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH CURRENT LEADERS – U.S. & TENNESSEE

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  The President of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States  This is currently Joe Biden  Joe Biden was a U.S. Senator from Delaware ( )

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  The President Pro Tempore presides over the Senate when the Vice President is not there.  The President Pro Tempore is the longest serving member of the majority party.  This is currently Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah.  He has been one of Utah’s Senator’s since 1977.

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  Each party elects leadership, which actually leads the Senate on a day-to- day basis. These positions are the Leader and Whip.  The party with the most members is called the majority party and the other party is called the minority party.  The leader is his party’s spokesman on issues and the whip counts votes and encourages people to vote with the party.

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  Majority Leader  The current Majority Leader is Mitch McConnell  Mitch McConnell has been Kentucky’s Senator since 1985.

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  Majority Whip  The current Majority Whip is John Cornyn  He has been a Senator for Texas since 2002.

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  Minority Leader  The Current Minority Leader is Harry Reid  He was elected as a Senator for Nevada in 1986  He was in the House of Representatives from

Current Leaders The Senate of the United States  Minority Whip  The Current Minority Whip is Dick Durbin  He has been a Senator from Illinois since 1996  He was in the House of Representatives from

Current Leaders The House of Representatives of the United States  The Speaker of the House of Representatives  He is the presiding office of the House  The Current Speaker is Paul Ryan  Paul Ryan has been Wisconsin’s 1 st District’s Representative since first elected in  He is the youngest speaker since 1875.

Current Leaders The House of Representatives of the United States  Much like the Senate, the House also has Majority and Minority leaders and whips.

Current Leaders The House of Representatives of the United States  The Majority Leader  The current majority leader is Kevin McCarthy  McCarthy has been a California representative since being elected in 2006.

Current Leaders The House of Representatives of the United States  The Majority Whip  The current Majority Whip is Steve Scalise  He has represented Louisiana's 1 st District since 2008

Current Leaders The House of Representatives of the United States  The Minority Leader  The current Minority Leader is Nancy Pelosi  She has been a Representative from California since  She was previously the speaker of the House ( )  As Speaker of the House, she was the highest ranking female politician in U.S. History.

Current Leaders The House of Representatives of the United States  The Minority Whip  The current Minority Whip is Steny Hoyer  He has served as a representative from Maryland since 1981.

Current Leaders List of Senate Leaders  President of the Senate: Joe Biden (D, DE)  President Pro Tempore: Orrin Hatch (R, UT)  Majority Leader: Mitch McConnell (R, KY)  Majority Whip: John Cornyn (R, TX)  Minority Leader: Harry Reid (D, NV)  Minority Whip: Dick Durbin (D, IL)

Current Leaders List of House Leaders  Speaker of the House: Paul Ryan (R, WI)  Majority Leader: Kevin McCarthy (R, CA)  Majority Whip: Steve Scalise (R, LA)  Minority Leader: Nancy Pelosi (D, CA)  Minority Whip: Steny Hoyer (D, MD)

Current Leaders Tennessee’s Legislators  Like all states, TN has two Senators  The Senior Senator is Lamar Alexander  He is a Republican  He has been in office since 2002  He was Governor from  He was U.S. Secretary of Education from

Current Leaders Tennessee’s Legislators  Like all states, TN has two Senators  The Junior Senator is Bob Corker  He is a Republican  He was elected in 2006  He was the mayor of Chattanooga from  He built a construction company before entering politics

Current Leaders Tennessee’s Legislators  Seymour is in the First Congressional District  Since 2009, the Representative for this district has been Dr. Phil Roe  He is a Republican  He is an obstetrician from Johnson City  He was mayor of Johnson City from  It is almost impossible to win the district and not be from the Tri-City area.

Current Leaders Tennessee’s Legislators: Other Representatives from Tennessee Chuck Fleischmann (R) 3 rd District Jimmy J. Duncan, Jr. (R) 2 nd District Scott DeJarlais (R) 4 th District Jim Cooper (D) 5 th District – , 2002-present

Current Leaders Tennessee’s Legislators: Other Representatives from Tennessee Marsh Blackburn (R) 7 th District Dianne Black(R) 6 th District Steven Fincher (R) 8 th District Steve Cohen (D) 9 th District – 2006

Current Leaders Tennessee State Legislators  The Lieutenant Governor is the Speaker of the State Senate  Currently this is Ron Ramsey (R, Blountville)  He is a Republican  He has represented the 4 th Senatorial District since 1996

Current Leaders Tennessee State Legislators  Seymour is in the 2 nd Senatorial District  The current Senator for Seymour is Doug Overbey  He is a Republican  He was elected in 2008

Current Leaders Tennessee State Legislators  The Speaker of the House  Currently, Tennessee has its first female Speaker of the House, Beth Harwell (R, Nashville)  She is a Republican  She represents the 56 th House District since 1986

Current Leaders Tennessee State Legislators  Seymour is in the 12 th House District  Currently, this seat is held by Dale Carr  He is a Republican  He was elected in 2012

Current Leaders Sevier County Legislature  The county legislature is called the County Commission  The Commission has 11 districts, with 2 Commissioners each  Seymour is split between 3 districts (6,9,& 10)  6 th District Commissioners: Greg Haggard and Harold Pitner  9 th District Commissioners: Chuck Godfrey and Buster Norton  10 th District Commissioners: Bryan Delius and Rod Cowan