Chris Coons is the senior United States Senator from Delaware, having served in the Senate since November 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed and then elected to fill the Senate seat vacated when Joe Biden resigned to become Vice President of the United States. Coons was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1963 and grew up in Hockessin, Delaware. He graduated from Amherst College, earned a law degree from Yale Law School, and holds a master's degree in ethics from Yale Divinity School. Before his Senate career, he served as chief executive of New Castle County.
Coons serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he is the ranking member, and on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is known as one of the Senate's most committed bipartisan dealmakers and a leading voice on foreign policy, particularly on U.S. engagement with Africa and on international human rights. He was a close ally and confidant of President Biden in the Senate, and has worked across party lines on criminal justice reform, energy innovation, and foreign aid. He chairs the Senate Democracy Technology Partnership Caucus.
- Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Department of Defense — Ranking Member
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
- Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
- Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
- Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy
- Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy — Ranking Member
- Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy
- Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development
- Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
- Senate Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism
- Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration
- Subcommittee on Intellectual Property
- Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law
- Senate Select Committee on Ethics — Vice Chairman
- SRES. 751: A resolution designating May 2026 as "ALS Awareness Month". — Introduced
- S. 4591: A bill to protect intellectual property rights in the voice and visual likeness of individuals, and for other purposes. — Introduced
- SJRES. 191: A joint resolution to direct removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress. — Introduced
- SRES. 716: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding critical elements of the United States policy towards the People's Republic of China. — Introduced
- SRES. 702: A resolution commending the American Chemical Society on the occasion of its 150th anniversary and recognizing its many years of service to the United States. — Introduced