House Majority and Minority Leaders

The House majority leader position took shape in 1899, when Speaker David Henderson named Sereno Payne, the chairman of Ways and Means, as floor leader. Both parties now elect their leaders by secret ballot in their caucus or conference at the start of each Congress. Neither post is mentioned in the Constitution or statute. In the majority, the Speaker is the party's true leader and the majority leader is second in command. In the minority, the minority leader is the party's top officer and usually its nominee for Speaker.

The majority leader manages the House floor: setting the weekly schedule, deciding with the Speaker when bills come up, negotiating with committee chairs, and announcing the next week's business in a weekly colloquy with the minority whip. The minority leader leads the opposition, develops the party's alternative agenda, decides strategy on procedural votes, recruits candidates, and raises money with the aim of winning the majority. Because the House runs by majority rule, the minority leader has far less leverage than the Senate minority leader.

Several minority leaders have become Speaker when their party won control, including Newt Gingrich in 1995 and Nancy Pelosi in 2007. Majority leaders have been less likely to rise. Steve Scalise has been majority leader since 2023, and Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black leader of a party in either chamber of Congress, has been Democratic leader since 2023.