116th United States Congress

The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on January 3, 2021, during the final two years of Donald Trump's first presidency. Senators elected to regular terms in 2014 finished their terms in this Congress, and House seats were apportioned based on the 2010 census.

In the November 2018 midterm elections, the Democratic Party won a new majority in the House, while the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate. Consequently, this was the first split Congress since the 113th Congress of 2013Ã¢ÂÂ2015, and the first Republican SenateÃ¢ÂÂDemocratic House split since the 99th Congress of 1985Ã¢ÂÂ1987. This Congress was the youngest incoming class by mean age, compared to the previous three the incoming class of freshman representatives, and the most demographically diverse in history.

Upon joining the Libertarian Party on May 1, 2020, Justin Amash became the first member of Congress to represent a political party other than the Democrats or the Republicans since Rep. William Carney, who served as a Conservative before switching to the Republican Party in 1985. Before joining the Libertarian Party, Amash had been serving as an Independent since his departure from the Republican Party on July 4, 2019. Paul Mitchell also left the Republicans in December 2020, becoming an independent. Neither incumbent ran for re-election. This is the most recent Congress to feature at least one member from the Kennedy family.

Major events

December 22, 2018 Ã¢ÂÂ January 25, 2019: 2018Ã¢ÂÂ2019 United States federal government shutdown
January 3, 2019: Former Speaker and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) was elected speaker again.
February 5, 2019: President Donald Trump delivers the 2019 State of the Union Address. It was delayed from January 29 due to the partial government shutdown.
February 15, 2019: President Trump declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States.
February 27, 2019: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
March 24, 2019: Mueller special counsel investigation: U.S. Attorney General William Barr issued a summary letter of special counsel Robert Mueller's report to congress on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
July 24, 2019: Mueller special counsel investigation: Special counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.
September 24, 2019: First impeachment of Donald Trump: House opened an Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump after a whistleblower alleged the President abused his power in a phone call with the President of Ukraine.
December 13, 2019: First impeachment of Donald Trump: House Judiciary Committee approved two impeachment articles.
December 18, 2019: First impeachment of Donald Trump: House impeached President Trump.
January 16, 2020 Ã¢ÂÂ February 5, 2020: First impeachment of Donald Trump: Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
February 4, 2020: President Trump delivers the 2020 State of the Union Address.
March 11, 2020: Beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
May 26, 2020 Ã¢ÂÂ May 26, 2021: Nationwide George Floyd protests
August 18, 2020 Ã¢ÂÂ April 6, 2022: 2020 United States Postal Service crisis
September 30, 2020 Ã¢ÂÂ January 20, 2021: White House COVID-19 outbreak
October 26, 2020: The Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court.
November 3, 2020: 2020 United States elections were held. Joe Biden was elected the 46th President of the United States and Kamala Harris was elected the 49th Vice President of the United States, the first woman to be so elected. Democrats retained control of the United States House of Representatives, while Republicans briefly retained control of the Senate until January 20, 2021, because Democrats won both regular and special Senate elections in Georgia on January 5, 2021.

Major legislation

Enacted

January 16, 2019: Government Employee Fair Treatment Act, Pub.L. 116-1
February 15, 2019: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, ,
March 12, 2019: John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, ,
June 24, 2019: Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act, Pub.L. 116-22
July 1, 2019: Taxpayer First Act of 2019,
July 29, 2019: , ,
November 27, 2019: Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, ,
December 20, 2019: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, ,
December 20, 2019: Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act as part of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, ,
January 29, 2020: United StatesÃ¢ÂÂMexicoÃ¢ÂÂCanada Agreement Implementation Act, ,
Coronavirus relief acts:
March 6, 2020: Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, ,
March 18, 2020: Families First Coronavirus Response Act, ,
March 27, 2020: Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), ,
April 24, 2020: Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, ,
December 27, 2020: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021,
March 26, 2020: Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act, ,
June 17, 2020: Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, ,
July 14, 2020: Hong Kong Autonomy Act, ,
August 4, 2020: Great American Outdoors Act, ,
October 10, 2020: Savanna's Act, Pub.L. 116-165
January 1, 2021: William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, , (passed over veto)
January 13, 2021: Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act, Pub.L. 116-338

Proposed (but not enacted)

House Bills
: For the People Act of 2019
H.R. 2 Moving Forward Act
H.R. 3: Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019
H.R. 4: John Lewis Voting Rights Act of 2019
: Equality Act of 2019
: American Dream and Promise Act of 2019
: Paycheck Fairness Act of 2019
: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019
: DC Admission Act of 2019
: SAFE Banking Act of 2019
: Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019
: HEROES Act of 2019
: Ending Qualified Immunity Act of 2019
: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020
Senate Bills
House Joint Resolutions
: "Opposing the decision to end certain United States efforts to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria"
: "Removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment"
Passed, but vetoed
March 15, 2019: : Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019. (Vetoed)
April 16, 2019: : A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress. (Vetoed)

Major resolutions

Adopted

October 31, 2019: Formally commencing an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump,
December 18, 2019: "Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors",

Proposed

: "Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal"

Party summary

Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Changes in membership" section below.

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

Presiding

Speaker of the House: Nancy Pelosi (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

House Majority Leader: Steny Hoyer
House Majority Whip: Jim Clyburn
Assistant Speaker of the House: Ben Ray LujÃÂ¡n
Chair of the House Democratic Caucus: Hakeem Jeffries
Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus: Katherine Clark
Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: Cheri Bustos
Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee: David Cicilline
Co-Chairs of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee: Matt Cartwright, Debbie Dingell, and Ted Lieu
House Democratic Junior Caucus Leadership Representative: Jamie Raskin
House Democratic Freshman Class Leadership Representatives: Katie Hill , Veronica Escobar , and Joe Neguse
Co-Chairs of the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee: Rosa DeLauro, Barbara Lee, and Eric Swalwell
House Democratic Assistant to the Majority Whip: Cedric Richmond
House Democratic Senior Chief Deputy Whips: John Lewis and Jan Schakowsky
House Democratic Chief Deputy Whips: Pete Aguilar, G. K. Butterfield, Henry Cuellar, Dan Kildee, Sheila Jackson Lee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Terri Sewell, and Peter Welch

Minority (Republican) leadership

House Minority Leader and Chair of the House Republican Steering Committee: Kevin McCarthy
House Minority Whip: Steve Scalise
Chair of the House Republican Conference: Liz Cheney
Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference: Mark Walker
Secretary of the House Republican Conference: Jason Smith
Chair of the House Republican Policy Committee: Gary Palmer
Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee: Tom Emmer
House Republican Chief Deputy Whip: Drew Ferguson

Demographics

Most members of this Congress were Christian (88.2%), with approximately half being Protestant and 30.5% being Catholic. Jewish membership is 6.4%. Other religions represented included Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. One senator said that she was religiously unaffiliated, while the number of members refusing to specify their religious affiliation increased.

Roughly 96% of members held college degrees. All but 128 members were non-Hispanic white, and all but 131 members were men.

Senate

The Senate included 74 men and 26 women, the most women to date. In 6 states, both senators were women; 14 states were represented by one man and one woman; and 30 states were represented by two men. During this Congress, Johnny Isakson retired for health reasons and Kelly Loeffler was appointed, which increased the number of women from 25 after the 2018 elections to 26. There were 91 non-Hispanic white, 4 Hispanic, 2 black, 2 Asian, and 1 multiracial (black/Asian) senators. Additionally, 2 senators were LGBTQ+. The average age of Senators at the beginning of this Congress was 62.9 years.

House of Representatives

There were 101 women in the House, the largest number in history. There were 313 non-Hispanic white, 56 black, 44 Hispanic, 15 Asian, and 4 Native American congressmembers. Eight were LGBTQ+. Two Democrats Ã¢ÂÂ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Donna Shalala Ã¢ÂÂ were the youngest (30) and oldest (78) freshmen women in history. Freshmen Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN) were the first two Muslim women and freshmen Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Deb Haaland (D-NM) were the first two Native American women elected as well. The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 116th Congress was 57.6 years.

With the election of Carolyn Maloney as the first woman to chair the House Oversight Committee, women chaired a record six House committees in a single Congress (out of 26 women ever to chair House committees in the history of Congress), including House members Maxine Waters (Financial Services), Nita Lowey (Appropriations), Zoe Lofgren (Administration), Eddie Bernice Johnson (Science, Space and Technology) and Nydia VelÃÂ¡zquez (Small Business), as well as Kathy Castor, who chaired the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. In addition, women chaired a record 39 House subcommittees. Lowey and Kay Granger were also the first women to serve as chair and ranking member of the same committee in the same Congress since the since-defunct Select Committee on the House Beauty Shop, which was chaired and populated entirely by congresswomen during its existence from 1967 to 1977.

Diversity of the freshman class

The demographics of the 116th U.S. Congress freshmen were more diverse than any previous incoming class.

At least 25 new congressional representatives were Hispanic, Native American, or people of color, and the incoming class included the first Native American women, the first Muslim women, and the two youngest women ever elected. The 116th Congress included more women elected to the House than did any previous Congress.

Members

Senate

The numbers refer to their Senate classes. All class 1 seats were contested in the November 2018 elections. In this Congress, class 1 means their term commenced in the current Congress, requiring re-election in 2024; class 2 means their term ends with this Congress, requiring re-election in 2020; and class 3 means their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 2022.