Seniority in the United States Senate

This article is part of a series on the
United States Senate
History of the United States Senate
Members
Current members (by seniority by class) Former members Hill committees (DSCC NRSC) Women in the Senate United States Vice President (list) President pro tempore (list) Presiding officer Party leaders Party leadership of the United States Senate Democratic Caucus Republican Conference
Politics and procedure
Advice and consent Blue slip Closed session (list) Cloture Committees (list) Executive session Morning business Filibuster Journal Nuclear option Recess appointment Quorum Quorum call Salaries Saxbe fix Seal Holds Senatorial courtesy Standing Rules Traditions Unanimous consent Vice presidential tie-breaking votes
Places
United States Capitol Senate chamber Old Senate Chamber Senate Reception Room Senate office buildings (Dirksen Hart Russell)
v t e

United States senators are conventionally ranked by the length of their tenure in the Senate. The senator in each U.S. state with the longer time in office is known as the senior senator; the other is the junior senator. This convention has no official standing, though seniority confers several benefits, including preference in the choice of committee assignments and physical offices. When senators have been in office for the same length of time, a number of tiebreakers, including previous offices held, are used to determine seniority. By tradition, the longest serving senator of the majority party is named president pro tempore of the Senate, the second-highest office in the Senate and the third in the line of succession to the presidency of the United States.^[1]