who is the minority whip of the senate 2017
Dick Durbin (D) John Cornyn (R)
title: Party leaders of the United States Senate text: of the Senate, if there is no floor leader present, the whip may become acting floor leader. Before 1969, the official titles were Majority Whip and Minority Whip. The Senate is currently composed of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 2 independents, both of whom caucus with the Democrats. The current leaders are Senators Mitch McConnell (R) from Kentucky and Chuck Schumer (D) from New York. The current Assistant Leaders/Whips are Senators John Cornyn (R) from Texas and Dick Durbin (D) from Illinois. Democrats began the practice of electing floor leaders in 1920 while they were in the minority. John W. title: Harry Reid text: 27, 2015, Reid uploaded a video to his YouTube account announcing that he would not seek re-election in November 2016. Reid endorsed New York Senator Chuck Schumer (D) to succeed him as Minority Leader. He was succeeded by former Nevada Attorney General and fellow Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto. On January 1, 2017, two days before the end of his term, Reid surpassed Sen. John P. Jones to become the longest-serving Senator from Nevada. From 1999 to 2005, Reid served as Senate Democratic Whip, as minority whip from 1999 to 2001, and again from 2003 to 2005. Reid was majority whip title: Andy Billig text: budget. Billig also served on the Education, Environment, and Technology & Economic Development committees. In 2012, Billig was elected to the Senate, where he was given a position of leadership as the Minority Whip. In 2015 he was chosen to represent the caucus as the Deputy Minority Leader, and now serves the Democratic majority in the Senate as the Deputy Majority Leader. During the 2018 legislative session, he served on the Early Learning & K-2 Education, Ways & Means, and Rules committees. One of his primary achievements of the 2018 session was the DISCLOSE Act, which increases transparency of campaign title: Whip (politics) text: the speaker. Unlike the Senate's presiding officer, the Speaker is the leader of his or her party's caucus in the House. In both the House and the Senate, the minority whip is the second highest-ranking individual in the minority party (the party with the lesser number of legislators in a legislative body), outranked only by the minority leader. The whip position was created in the House of Representatives in 1897 by Republican Speaker Thomas Reed, who appointed James A. Tawney as the first whip. The first Democratic whip, Oscar Wilder Underwood, was appointed around 1900. In the Senate, the position title: Len Fasano text: Sands Beach and Tennis Club in East Haven, Connecticut. Fasano was elected in 2002, 50% to 48%. He was Minority Whip from 2003-2004, Assistant Minority Leader from 2005-2006, Deputy Minority Leader from 2007 to 2008, Minority Leader Pro Tem from 2009-2014, Minority Leader since 2014, and Senate Republican President Pro Tempore since 2017. Fasano was unopposed for reelection in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. In 2012, he defeated former state representative Steve Fontana, 58% to 42%. He was unopposed for reelection in 2014 and 2016. Health Care Issues Alongside Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, Len Fasano co-created and co-chaired