Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American politician serving as the senior United States Senator from Illinois since 1997. He has been the Assistant Democratic Leader, the second-highest position in the Democratic Party leadership in the Senate, since 2005, serving as Minority Whip from 2005 to 2007, Majority Whip from 2007 to 2015, and Minority Whip again since 2015.