Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. listens to a question during an interview at her office in Boston, Dec. 15, 2016. Warren said Friday, Jan. 6, 2017, that she will run for re-election in 2018. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) 

For almost eight years, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus existed in the shadow of the first black president. They praised President Barack Obama's achievements while at the same time pushing him to do more for their constituents who overwhelmingly supported his history-making campaign and administration. But with Obama set to leave the White House on Jan. 20, black lawmakers in the House and Senate are recalculating and reassessing their place in Washington. And realizing they're regaining the limelight as the most visible and powerful African-American politicians in the nation's capital. 

Jared Kushner, son-in-law of of President-elect Donald Trump walks from Trump Tower, in New York, Nov. 14, 2016. Kushner is taking steps to distance himself from his sprawling New York real estate business, in what is the clearest sign yet he is planning to take a position in his father-in-law's administration. Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, must clear a series of hurdles before he takes any post in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) 

In this Dec. 28, 2016 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump talks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 

A shooting victim is unloaded from an emergency vehicle and taken into Broward Health Trauma Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Friday, Jan. 6, 2017. Authorities said multiple people have died after a lone suspect opened fire at the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, international airport. (Taimy Alvarez /South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP) 

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File) 

Talladega College Savery Library 

CBC members celebrate new CBC Chairman Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond (seated) at the ceremonial swearing-in event for the 115th Congress at The Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA) 

In this Friday, June 26, 2009 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks about the passage of the Clean Energy Act by the House of Representatives in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington. As Obama took office, race became a focal point in a way that was unprecedented in American history. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) 

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., listens to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 19, 2015. House Republicans on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, voted to eviscerate the Office of Congressional Ethics. Under the ethics change pushed by Goodlatte, the independent body would fall under the control of the House Ethics Committee, which is run by lawmakers. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)