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This article is part of the series: United States Senate
Members
Current (by seniority · by age · by class) Former Expelled or censured Hill committees (DSCC, NRSC) President pro tempore (list) Dean · Presiding officer Party leaders and Assistants Democratic Caucus (chair · secretary · policy chair) Republican Conference (chair · vice-chair · policy chair) Demographics Women · African-Americans Asian-Pacific Americans
Employees
Chaplain · Curator Historian · Librarian Pages · Parliamentarian Secretary · Sergeant at Arms
Politics and procedure
Advice and consent Closed session (list) Cloture · Committees (list) Executive session · Filibuster History · Quorum  · Quorum call Recess appointment · Salaries Seal  · Standing Rules · Traditions Unanimous consent VPs' tie-breaking votes
Places
United States Capitol Senate office buildings (Dirksen · Hart · Russell)

This is a classification of current U.S. Senators by seniority. The President pro tempore of the Senate is traditionally the most senior member of the majority party. The current President pro tempore is also the Dean of the United States Senate, Robert Byrd.

Order of service is based on the commencement of the Senator's first term. Behind this is former service as a U.S. Senator (only giving the Senator seniority within his or her new incoming class), service as U.S. Vice President, a House member, a cabinet member, a state governor, and then by their state's population, respectively.^[1] For Senators who have a cited, verified census the state population ranking is listed.^{[2] [3][4][5]}

United States Census, 1990

1. ^ A Chronological List of United States Senators 1789-Present, via www.Senate.gov
2. ^ 1971 U.S Census Report Contains 1970 Census results.
3. ^ 1981 U.S Census Report Contains 1980 Census results.
4. ^ 1991 U.S Census Report Contains 1990 Census results.
5. ^ 2000 Census State Population Rankings
6. ^ Lieberman won re-election as an independent in 2006 and caucuses with the Democratic Party. However, he has chosen to refer to himself as an "Independent Democrat." Despite the party change, Lieberman retains his seniority since there is no break in his Senate service.
7. ^ Frank Lautenberg served a previous term as U.S. Senator from New Jersey from January 1983 to January 2001, but under the rules, does not retain seniority from that prior service. Lautenberg has sought restoration of his seniority based on his prior service, but has not received it."Lieberman says he has been promised seniority", via HillNews.com
8. ^ Phil Gramm resigned early, effective November 30, 2002, so that Cornyn could take senate office on December 2, 2002 and move into Gramm's office suite in order to begin organizing his staff. Cornyn did not, however, gain seniority, owing to a 1980 Rules Committee policy that no longer gave seniority to senators who entered Congress early for the purpose of gaining advantageous office space.
9. ^ Senator Webb served as Secretary of the Navy; however, that has not been a Cabinet-level position since 1947.