The Hill News

Senate Democrats formed a new office Wednesday to manage their political efforts in the 112th Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat whom Reid's asked to lead communications efforts, announced the creation of the Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Center (DPCC), their policy and press shop for the new Congress.

The new office is intended to consolidate Senate Democrats' messaging operation under a single roof, which will be headed by staff from both Reid and Schumer.

Schumer's legislative director Katie Beirne will serve as staff director of the DPCC, while Reid spokesman Jon Summers will serve as its communications director. (Summer will also serve as Reid's top personal spokesman.) Schumer's communications director, Brian Fallon, will become chief spokesman for the DPCC.

The new office comes on the first official day of the new Congress in the House, whe! n the GOP majority will be formally sworn-in. The Senate's majority Democrats are expected to spar with the House over the next two years, perhaps helping to usher in the DPCC.

The office in some ways mirrors the Senate Republicans Communications Center (SRCC) run successfully by Republican staff during the past few years. That office is administered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) staff and serves as a clearinghouse for GOP messaging operations in the Senate.