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]