U.S. GovernmentUNIT 2: THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCHCURRENT 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 (1973-2009)

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 1982-1986

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 1982-1996

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 1st District’s Representative

since first elected in 1998. 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 1st 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 1987. She was previously the speaker of the House (2007-2011) 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 1979-1987 He was U.S. Secretary of Education

from 1991-1993

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 2001-2005 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 2007-

2009 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)3rd District - 2010

Jimmy J. Duncan, Jr. (R)2nd District - 1988

Scott DeJarlais (R)4th District - 2010

Jim Cooper (D)5th District – 1983-

1995, 2002-present

Current Leaders

Tennessee’s Legislators: Other Representatives from Tennessee

Marsh Blackburn (R)7th District - 2002

Dianne Black(R)6th District - 2010

Steven Fincher (R)8th District - 2010

Steve Cohen (D)9th 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 4th Senatorial District since 1996

Current Leaders

Tennessee State Legislators Seymour is in the 2nd 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 56th House District since 1986

Current Leaders

Tennessee State Legislators Seymour is in the 12th 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)

6th District Commissioners: Greg Haggard and Harold Pitner 9th District Commissioners: Chuck Godfrey and Buster Norton 10th District Commissioners: Bryan Delius and Rod Cowan