Bernie Sanders is a politician.
Bernard Sanders ( born September 8 , 1941 ) is an American politician who has been the junior United States Senator from Vermont since 2007 . Sanders became the ranking minority member on the Senate Budget Committee in January 2015 ; he had previously been chair of the Senate Veterans ' Affairs Committee for two years . In 1990 , he was elected to represent Vermont 's at-large congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives , where he co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus in 1991 .