Secretary of the United States Senate

Secretary of United States Senate
Secretary of United States Senate
	Incumbent; Sonceria Berry; since March 1, 2021
	United States Senate
Seat	Senate chamber, United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Nominator	Senate Majority Leader
Appointer	Elected by the Senate
Formation	April 8, 1789
First holder	Samuel Allyne Otis
Deputy	Assistant Secretary of the United States Senate
Salary	US$172,500 per year
Website	www.senate.gov

The secretary of the Senate is an officer of the United States Senate. The secretary supervises an extensive array of offices and services to expedite the day-to-day operations of that body. The office is somewhat analogous to that of the clerk of the United States House of Representatives.

The first secretary was chosen on April 8, 1789, two days after the Senate achieved its first quorum for business at the beginning of the 1st United States Congress.^[1] From the start, the secretary was responsible for keeping the minutes and records of the Senate, including the records of senators' election, and for receiving and transmitting official messages to and from the president and the House of Representatives, as well as for purchasing supplies.^[1] As the Senate grew to become a major national institution, numerous other duties were assigned to the secretary, whose jurisdiction now encompasses clerks, curators, and computers; disbursement of payrolls; acquisition of stationery supplies; education of the Senate pages; and the maintenance of public records.^[1] Today, the secretary coordinates two of the largest technology initiatives in Senate history, both designed to bring state-of-the-art efficiency to management of legislative and financial information. The secretary's responsibilities include both legislative and administrative functions.

By agreement of the two parties, the majority leader selects the secretary of the senate, and the election is merely ceremonial. The Senate Officers Clause of Article I, Section III states "The Senate shall chuse their other Officers".^[2] The Oath or Affirmation Clause of Article VI provides that "all ... Officers ... of the United States ... shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution",^[3] and pursuant to Article VI, the 1st United States Congress passed the Oath Administration Act (that remains in effect) which provides that "the [S]ecretary of the Senate... shall... [take] the oath or affirmation [required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States]".^[4]

The current secretary (for the 118th United States Congress) is Sonceria "Ann" Berry.^[5]

Legislative functions

The secretary regularly accompanies the chaplain into the Senate chamber for the opening of the day's session and a seat beside the presiding officer is reserved for the secretary. The secretary examines and signs every act that has been passed by the Senate. In certain parliamentary circumstances, the secretary may also preside over the Senate. The most recent occurrence was on June 28, 2010, after Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, who had been serving as President Pro Tempore died, and Vice President Joseph Biden was absent. On that occasion, Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson took the chair briefly until the Senate adopted a resolution to elect Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii as the new president pro tempore.^[6]

The first secretary took the minutes of Senate proceedings, a function continued today by the journal clerk. After the Congressional Record evolved into an official publication, the secretary came to supervise the Senate's reporters of debates and preparation of the Daily Digest. Among other Senate floor staff who report to the secretary are the parliamentarian, bill clerk, and legislative clerk.

Administrative functions

The first secretary purchased the quill pens, ink, and parchment needed by eighteenth-century senators. Modern secretaries of the Senate have responsibility for the Senate Stationery Room, a multimillion-dollar retail operation that keeps senators' offices supplied. From the beginning, the secretary served as the Senate's disbursing officer, paying senators their original salary of six dollars a day plus travel expenses. As the Senate grew, a separate financial clerk was appointed under the secretary's jurisdiction.

In recognition of the immediate and historical significance of Senate bills, resolutions, hearings, and reports, the secretary oversees the Office of Printing and Document Services, the Office of Senate Security (which maintains classified documents), the United States Senate Library, the Office of Senate Curator, and the Senate Historical Office. The secretary also maintains the Office of Interparliamentary Services to provide support for those interparliamentary conferences in which the Senate participates and to assist senators in international travel. Also under the secretary's direction, the Office of Public Records collects and makes publicly available documents relating to campaign finance, financial ethics, foreign travel, and lobbying.

In 1789 the secretary was authorized to hire "one principal clerk." This principal clerk, or chief clerk, for many years served primarily as a reading clerk on the Senate floor. But during the 1960s, in response to the secretary's growing administrative duties, the position evolved into that of assistant secretary of the Senate, who oversees the administration of the Secretary's Office, including computers and the secretary's web site. The assistant secretary also performs the functions of the secretary in his or her absence. During the 1960s, under the leadership of Francis R. Valeo, staff positions under the secretary of the Senate were redefined from patronage to professional status, a trend continued by Valeo's successors.

Notable secretaries

A position of great trust and responsibility, the Senate secretaryship has been held by a long line of distinguished individuals. Samuel Allyne Otis, the first secretary of the Senate, had previously been speaker of the Massachusetts legislature and a member of the Continental Congress. Otis held the post of secretary for twenty-five years, never missing a day that the Senate was in session. General Anson McCook of New York, a former House member and one of the "Fighting McCooks" of the Civil War, served as secretary, as well as a former Confederate general and Congressman, William R. Cox of North Carolina. In addition, two former U.S. senators, Charles Cutts of New Hampshire and Walter Lowrie of Pennsylvania, have later served as secretary. Other former House members who have held the post include Charles G. Bennett (NY). During the Ninety-ninth Congress (1985–1987), Jo-Anne Coe became the first woman to serve as secretary.

It has not been unusual for secretaries of the Senate to have devoted their entire careers to the Senate. Several began as pages, including Edwin Halsey, who served throughout the dramatic New Deal years; Leslie Biffle, a close confidant of President Harry S. Truman; Carl Loeffler and J. Mark Trice, secretaries during the Eightieth and Eighty-third congresses; and Walter J. Stewart, secretary from 1987 to 1994.

Secretaries of the Senate

No.	Secretary of the Senate	State or territory	Term of service	Congress
1	Samuel Allyne Otis	Massachusetts	April 8, 1789 – April 22, 1814	1st – 13th
2	Charles Cutts	New Hampshire	October 12, 1814 – December 12, 1825	13th – 19th
3	Walter Lowrie	Pennsylvania	December 12, 1825 – December 5, 1836	19th – 24th
4	Asbury Dickins	North Carolina	December 13, 1836 – July 15, 1861	24th – 37th
5	John Weiss Forney	Pennsylvania	July 15, 1861 – June 4, 1868	37th – 40th
6	George C. Gorham	California	June 6, 1868 – March 24, 1879	40th – 46th
7	John C. Burch	Tennessee	March 24, 1879 – July 28, 1881	46th – 47th
8	Francis E. Shober	North Carolina	October 24, 1881 – December 18, 1883	47th – 48th
9	Anson G. McCook	New York	December 18, 1883 – August 7, 1893	48th – 53rd
10	William Ruffin Cox	North Carolina	August 7, 1893 – January 31, 1900	53rd – 56th
11	Charles G. Bennett	New York	February 1, 1900 – March 13, 1913	56th – 63rd
12	James M. Baker	South Carolina	March 13, 1913 – May 19, 1919	63rd – 66th
13	George A. Sanderson	Illinois	May 19, 1919 – April 24, 1925	66th – 69th
14	Edwin Pope Thayer	Indiana	December 7, 1925 – March 9, 1933	69th – 73rd
15	Edwin A. Halsey	Virginia	March 9, 1933 – January 29, 1945	73rd – 79th
16a	Leslie Biffle	Arkansas	February 8, 1945 – January 4, 1947	79th – 80th
17	Carl A. Loeffler	Pennsylvania	January 4, 1947 – January 3, 1949	80th
16b	Leslie Biffle	Arkansas	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	81st – 82nd
18	J. Mark Trice	Maryland	January 3, 1953 – January 5, 1955	83rd – 84th
19	Felton M. Johnston	Mississippi	January 5, 1955 – December 30, 1965	84th – 89th
20	Emery L. Frazier	Kentucky	January 1, 1966 – September 30, 1966	89th
21	Francis R. Valeo	Washington, D.C.	October 1, 1966 – March 31, 1977	89th – 95th
22	J. Stanley Kimmitt	Virginia	April 1, 1977 – January 4, 1981	95th – 97th
23	William F. Hildenbrand	Washington, D.C.	January 5, 1981 – January 2, 1985	97th – 98th
24	Jo–Anne L. Coe	Virginia	January 3, 1985 – January 6, 1987	99th – 100th
25	Walter J. Stewart	Washington, D.C.	January 6, 1987 – April 15, 1994	100th – 103rd
26	Martha S. Pope	Connecticut	April 15, 1994 – January 3, 1995	103rd
27	Sheila P. Burke	California	January 4, 1995 – June 7, 1995	104th
28	Kelly D. Johnston	Oklahoma	June 8, 1995 – September 30, 1996	104th
29	Gary Lee Sisco	Tennessee	October 1, 1996 – July 11, 2001	104th – 107th
30	Jeri Thomson	Virginia	July 12, 2001 – January 6, 2003	107th – 108th
31	Emily J. Reynolds	Tennessee	January 7, 2003 – January 3, 2007	108th – 109th
32	Nancy Erickson	South Dakota	January 4, 2007 – January 5, 2015	110th – 114th
33	Julie E. Adams	Iowa	January 6, 2015 – March 1, 2021	114th – 117th
34	Sonceria "Ann" Berry	Alabama	March 1, 2021 – present	117th – present