who sits in the front of the senate
United States Senate Each senator chooses a desk based on seniority within the party. By custom, the leader of each party sits in the front row along the center aisle. Forty-eight of the desks date back to 1819, when the Senate chamber was reconstructed after the original contents were destroyed in the 1812 Burning of Washington. Further desks of similar design were added as new states entered the Union.[30] It is a tradition that each senator who uses a desk inscribes his or her name on the inside of the desk's drawer.[31]
United States Senate Under the Constitution, the Vice President serves as President of the Senate. He or she may vote in the Senate (ex officio, for he or she is not an elected member of the Senate) in the case of a tie, but is not required to.[32] For much of the nation's history the task of presiding over Senate sessions was one of the Vice President's principal duties (the other being to receive from the states the tally of electoral ballots cast for President and Vice President and to open the certificates "in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives," so that the total votes could be counted). Since the 1950s, Vice Presidents have presided over few Senate debates. Instead, they have usually presided only on ceremonial occasions, such as swearing in new senators, joint sessions, or at times to announce the result of significant legislation or nomination, or when a tie vote on an important issue is anticipated.