Senate Career
Four terms, three committee gavels, and the longest Independent tenure in congressional history.
Election to the Senate (2006)
In 2006, Sanders won Vermont’s open Senate seat, succeeding the retiring Jim Jeffords, and took office on January 3, 2007. He was re-elected in 2012 (with about 71% of the vote), in 2018, and in 2024 — when he defeated Republican challenger Gerald Malloy on November 5, 2024, winning a fourth term that runs through January 2031. Throughout, he has served as an Independent who caucuses with the Senate Democrats; his office describes him as the longest-serving Independent in the history of Congress.
The filibuster (2010)
On December 10, 2010, Sanders held the Senate floor for more than eight hours in opposition to a tax-cut compromise package negotiated by the Obama White House and congressional Republicans. The speech — later published as the book The Speech — became a signature moment and a fundraising touchstone for his later campaigns.
Veterans’ Affairs chairman (2013–2015)
As chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in the 113th Congress, Sanders co-authored the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 with Senator John McCain, expanding veterans’ access to private health care amid the VA wait-time scandal. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support and was signed into law — the most significant bipartisan legislative achievement of Sanders’s career, by wide consensus.
Budget chairman (2021–2023)
In the 117th Congress, Sanders chaired the Senate Budget Committee, steering the budget resolution that enabled passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 through reconciliation. Supporters called it the most consequential use of his chairmanship; critics of the spending package faulted its size and its contribution to inflation — characterizations this site attributes to their sources.
HELP chairman (2023–2025)
In the 118th Congress, Sanders chaired the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), using the gavel for high-profile hearings on labor practices — including sessions examining Starbucks and Amazon — and on prescription drug prices.
The 119th Congress (2025–2027)
In the current Congress, Sanders serves as the ranking member of the HELP Committee — the committee’s senior Democrat — and joined the Senate Finance Committee, according to the HELP Committee’s official announcements. He also continues as chairman of the Senate Democrats’ outreach effort, a role he has held since 2017.
Source notes
Committee roles and dates are drawn from official Senate and HELP Committee announcements (including the 119th Congress assignment notices), the official Senate press-package biography, and reputable election reporting on the 2024 Vermont Senate race. See the sources page.
Factual baseline: September 2026.