House Democrats choose their candidate for Speaker in a closed caucus, and Senate Democrats choose their leader by secret ballot. The only voters in either room are members of Congress, and by the practice of both parties the members elected on 3 November take part. If you have a view on Hakeem Jeffries or Chuck Schumer leading, for or against, your own representative and your own two senators are the people who carry it in.
Who votes for the leaders, and when
As of 6 November: Democrats hold 253 House seats with 20 races uncalled, and 54 Senate seats with Alaska and Mississippi uncalled. Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are the only declared candidates.
- 3 NovemberElection day. The members elected today are the voters in both rooms below.
- 18 to 19 November*House Democrats pick their Speaker candidate in a closed caucus.Call your House member before 18 Nov
- Early December*Senate Democrats pick their leader by secret ballot. No floor vote follows.Call both senators before early Dec
- 3 JanuaryNew Congress sworn in; the full House elects the Speaker on the floor.
* As reported by Bloomberg Government, CBS News and Roll Call; no caucus or conference notice yet. Capitol switchboard 202 224 3121.
THE DATES
House Democrats
Leadership elections on 18 and 19 November, as reported by Bloomberg Government and CBS News; no caucus notice has been published. The full House elects the Speaker on the floor on 3 January, by a majority of votes cast for a person by name.
Senate Democrats
Leader election expected in early December, per Roll Call. There is no floor vote afterward, so the conference ballot decides it.
The new Congress
Members elected on 3 November are sworn in on 3 January under the Twentieth Amendment.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRST
Your two senators
Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff were not on the 2026 ballot and both vote in the Senate Democratic Conference. Reach either office through the Capitol switchboard, 202 224 3121, or the contact form on each senator's site, linked from senate.gov.
Your representative
California's districts changed under Proposition 50, and several Los Angeles County races are still being counted. Find your district by address at house.gov. If your member is newly elected, use the contact page on their campaign or transition site until 3 January.
Delegation table
The county delegation table (district, member or member elect, new or returning, contact) will be added here when the Registrar certifies the count, sourced to the Registrar and the Secretary of State.
ANYWHERE ELSE
Find your members
Your representative at house.gov, your senators at senate.gov. The switchboard, 202 224 3121, reaches any office.
What to say
Give your name and ZIP code, say whether you want Jeffries as Speaker or Schumer as leader, and ask one question: how will the member vote in the caucus, and will they say so publicly before the vote. Either answer is worth giving.
Why your own member
Leadership votes happen inside the party conference, so the only votes that count are your own members' votes. Corrections and documents to letters@ourrevolution.media.
THE RECORDEvery primary document this page links to
Terms that recur across the record, defined once. Each H3 below is a term; the paragraph under it is the definition the site shows on hover, and the line after it names the primary source.
Administrative Procedure Act
The 1946 statute that sets how federal agencies make rules and how courts review them. It requires notice and public comment for most rules and lets courts set aside agency action that is arbitrary, capricious, or contrary to law.
Source: 5 U.S.C. 553
Captive audience meeting
A meeting employees must attend, on paid time and under threat of discipline, where the employer argues against unionizing. The NLRB held mandatory meetings of this kind unlawful in Amazon.com Services in November 2024, applying the rule to future cases only.
Source: NLRB, Board rules captive audience meetings unlawful
Cemex
The NLRB's 2023 standard from Cemex Construction Materials Pacific. When a union shows majority support, the employer must recognize it or promptly file for an election, and serious unfair labor practices before the vote lead to a bargaining order instead of a rerun. The Sixth Circuit held the standard invalid on 6 March 2026.
Source: NLRB case 28 CA 230115
Chevron
The doctrine from Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council (1984) under which courts deferred to an agency's reasonable reading of an ambiguous statute it administers. The Supreme Court overruled it in Loper Bright in 2024.
Source: 467 U.S. 837
Congressional Review Act
A 1996 law that lets Congress overturn a new federal rule with a joint resolution of disapproval, passed by simple majorities on a fast track and signed by the president. A disapproved rule cannot be reissued in substantially the same form without new authority from Congress.
Source: 5 U.S.C. 801
The 1998 law that governs who may serve as an acting officer in a Senate confirmed post and for how long. Actions taken by someone serving outside its limits are generally without legal effect.
Source: 5 U.S.C. 3345
Filibuster
Extended debate that blocks a Senate vote. Ending it through cloture takes three fifths of senators, usually 60, so most legislation needs 60 votes to advance. Budget reconciliation bills are exempt.
Source: Senate Rule XXII
Humphrey's Executor
Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935), which upheld limits on the president's power to fire FTC commissioners and became the legal basis for independent agencies. The Supreme Court overruled it in Trump v. Slaughter on 29 June 2026, except for agencies that exercise no executive power.
Source: 295 U.S. 602
IEEPA
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which lets a president regulate commerce after declaring a national emergency. In February 2026 the Supreme Court held that it does not authorize tariffs.
Source: 50 U.S.C. 1701
Impoundment
When the executive withholds or delays spending money Congress has appropriated. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 allows it only through reported deferrals or through rescission proposals, which lapse unless Congress approves them within 45 days of continuous session.
Source: 2 U.S.C. 683
Loper Bright
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (2024), which overruled Chevron and held that courts must decide for themselves what an ambiguous statute means rather than defer to the agency's reading.
Source: Supreme Court docket 22 451
Nondelegation
The principle that Congress cannot hand its lawmaking power to another branch. Courts uphold a delegation if the statute supplies an intelligible principle to guide it, a test from J. W. Hampton v. United States (1928) that has struck down only two laws, both in 1935.
Source: 276 U.S. 394
Pocket rescission
A rescission proposal sent to Congress within 45 days of the end of a fiscal year, so the frozen funds expire before Congress has to act. GAO has found the maneuver unlawful under the Impoundment Control Act, most recently on 29 September 2026.
Source: GAO decision B 338788
Quorum
The minimum number of members a board or commission needs in order to act. The NLRB needs three of its five seats filled; the FEC needs four of its six commissioners to vote on enforcement, rules, or advisory opinions.
Source: 29 U.S.C. 153(b)
Reconciliation
A budget process that lets Congress pass tax, spending, and debt limit changes with a simple majority in the Senate, outside the filibuster. It starts with instructions in a budget resolution, and the Byrd rule strikes provisions with no budgetary effect.
Source: 2 U.S.C. 641
Reduction in force
A layoff of federal employees under OPM rules that rank workers by tenure, veterans' preference, length of service, and performance to decide who is released. Often shortened to RIF.
Source: 5 CFR part 351
Removal power
The president's authority to fire executive officers, and how far Congress can limit it. In Trump v. Slaughter (29 June 2026) the Supreme Court held that for cause protection for FTC commissioners is unconstitutional, so the president can remove members of most independent agencies at will.
Source: Trump v. Slaughter, No. 25 332
Schedule F
An excepted service classification, first created by executive order in 2020, that removes civil service job protections from career employees in policy influencing roles. Revoked in 2021, reinstated by order in January 2025, and made final by OPM rule in 2026 under the name Schedule Policy/Career.
Source: OPM final rule, 91 FR 5580
Schedule Policy/Career
The 2026 name for Schedule F. Career employees placed in it keep their jobs but lose adverse action appeal rights, so they can be removed without the usual civil service process.
Source: OPM, Schedule Policy/Career reference materials
Section 122
Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which lets the president impose an import surcharge of up to 15 percent for up to 150 days to address balance of payments problems. A 10 percent surcharge ran under it from 24 February to 24 July 2026.
Source: 19 U.S.C. 2132
Section 232
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which lets the president restrict imports the Commerce Department finds threaten national security. It underlies the steel, aluminum, and auto tariffs.
Source: 19 U.S.C. 1862
Section 301
Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which lets the U.S. Trade Representative impose duties or other measures on countries whose trade practices are found unfair or burdensome to U.S. commerce.
Source: 19 U.S.C. 2411
Section 338
A provision of the Tariff Act of 1930 allowing new duties of up to 50 percent on imports from countries found to discriminate against American commerce. It went unused for decades before the 2026 tariff on Canadian goods.
Source: 19 U.S.C. 1338
Unfair labor practice
Conduct the National Labor Relations Act forbids to employers or unions, such as threatening, firing, or bribing workers over organizing, or refusing to bargain in good faith. Charges are filed with the NLRB.
Source: 29 U.S.C. 158