Floor leader

In the United States Senate, they are elected by their respective party conferences to serve as the chief Senate spokespeople for their parties and to manage and schedule the legislative and executive business of the Senate. By custom, the Presiding Officer gives the floor leaders priority in obtaining recognition to speak on the floor of the Senate.

In the Senate's two-party system, the floor leaders are the spokespeople from both major parties, elected by their parties. They also serve essentially as executives of their parties within the Senate. The Floor Leaders are referred to as the Senate Majority Leader, who belongs to the party with the most Senators, and the Senate Minority Leader, who belongs to the other major party.

Similar positions exist in the United States House of Representatives, except that the role of House Majority Leader normally goes to the second-highest member of the leadership of the majority party, because it traditionally elects its party leader to the position of Speaker. In contrast House Minority Leader serves as floor leader of the "loyal opposition," and is the minority counterpart to the Speaker.

Similar positions exist for state legislatures as for both houses of Congress. In addition, "governor's floor leaders" or "administration floor leaders" may be selected by the governor in both houses of several states' legislatures to guide and advocate for the governor's legislative agenda. Historically, Governor's floor leaders have been selected in Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama and California. "Mayor's floor leaders" have also been historically appointed in the city councils of Chicago,[1] Baltimore,[2] and Houston.[3]