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80th United States Congress

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80th United States Congress
79th ←
→ 81st
United States Capitol (1956)
January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
Members96 senators
435 representatives
3 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentVacant
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerJoseph William Martin, Jr. (R)
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1947 – December 19, 1947
Special: November 17, 1947 – December 19, 1947
2nd: January 6, 1948 – December 31, 1948
Special: July 26, 1948 – August 7, 1948

The Eightieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1949, during the third and fourth years of Harry Truman's presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940. Republicans gained a majority in both chambers for this Congress having gained thirteen Senate seats and fifty-seven House seats. Although the 80th Congress passed a total of 906 public bills,[1] President Truman nicknamed it the "Do Nothing Congress" and, during the 1948 election, campaigned as much against it as against his formal opponent, Thomas Dewey. The 80th Congress passed several significant pro-business bills, most famously the Marshall Plan and the Taft–Hartley Act, but it opposed most of Truman's Fair Deal bills. Truman's campaign strategy worked, and the Republicans lost nine Senate seats and seventy-three seats in the House, allowing the Democrats to begin the 81st Congress with twenty-one more seats than they had at the end of the 79th Congress. It also allowed Truman to win a term of his own right as President, having become President after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945.

Major events

See also: 1947 in the United States, 1948 in the United States, and 1949 in the United States

Major legislation

Main article: List of United States federal legislation, 1901-2001

Constitutional amendments

Party summary

House Chaplain Bernard Braskamp delivering the opening prayer for the 80th Congress, 1947

Senate

Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Progressive
(P)		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 57 1 38 96 0
Begin 45 0 51 96 0
End
Final voting share 46.9% 0.0% 53.1%
Beginning of next congress 54 0 42 96 0

House of Representatives

From the beginning to the end of this Congress, there was no net change in party power. The Democrats lost one seat, which remained vacant until the next Congress.

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" | style="background-color:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" | style="background-color:Template:American Labor Party (United States)/meta/color" | style="background-color:Template:Progressive Party (United States)/meta/color" |
Republican Democratic American Labor Progressive Vacant
End of previous Congress 191 242 1 1 435 0
Begin 248 185 1 0 434 1
End 244 184 2 430 5
Final voting share 56.7% 43.1% 0.2% 0.0%
Beginning of the next Congress 171 263 1 0 435 0

Leadership

Section contents: Senate: Majority (R), Minority (D) • House: Majority (R), Minority (D)

Senate

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

House of Representatives

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Caucuses

Members

Senate

Senators are popularly elected statewide every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1948; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1950; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1952.

Percentage of members from each party by state at the opening of the 80th Congress, ranging from dark blue (most Democratic) to dark red (most Republican).

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide at-large, are preceded by an "At-Large," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.

The congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress

Senate

There were 3 deaths, 2 resignations, and one lost mid-term election.

See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate

Template:Ordinal US Congress Senate

|- | Mississippi
(1) | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Theodore Bilbo (D) | Died August 21, 1947.
Successor was elected November 17, 1947. | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | John Stennis (D) | November 17, 1947

|- | Louisiana
(3) | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | John Holmes Overton (D) | Died May 14, 1948.
Successor was appointed to continue the term. | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | William C. Feazel (D) | May 18, 1948

|- | South Dakota
(2) | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Harlan Bushfield (R) | Died September 27, 1948.
Successor was appointed to finish the term. | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Vera Bushfield (R) | October 6, 1948

|- | South Dakota
(2) | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Vera Bushfield (R) | Interim appointee resigned December 26, 1948.
Successor was appointed to finish the term. | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Karl Earl Mundt (R) | December 31, 1948

|- | Louisiana
(3) | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | William C. Feazel (D) | Interim appointee retired when successor elected.
Successor was elected December 31, 1948. | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Russell B. Long (D) | December 31, 1948

|- | North Carolina
(2) | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | William Umstead (D) | Interim appointee lost election to finish the term.
Successor was elected December 31, 1948. | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Melville Broughton (D) | December 31, 1948

|}

House of Representatives

There were 9 deaths and 7 resignations.


See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives

Template:Ordinal US Congress Rep |- | Alabama
8th | Vacant | style="font-size:80%" | John Sparkman resigned in previous Congress after being elected to the US Senate | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Robert E. Jones, Jr. (D) | Seated January 28, 1947 |- | Wisconsin
2nd | Vacant | style="font-size:80%" | Robert K. Henry died during previous Congress | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Glenn R. Davis (R) | Seated April 22, 1947 |- | Washington
3rd | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Fred Norman (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died April 18, 1947 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Russell Mack (R) | Seated June 7, 1947 |- | Pennsylvania
8th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Charles Gerlach (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died May 5, 1947 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Franklin Lichtenwalter (R) | Seated September 9, 1947 |- | Maryland
3rd | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned May 16, 1947, after being elected Mayor of Baltimore | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Edward Garmatz (D) | Seated July 15, 1947 |- | Michigan
11th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Fred Bradley (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died May 24, 1947 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Charles Potter (R) | Seated August 26, 1947 |- | Texas
9th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Joseph J. Mansfield (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died July 12, 1947 | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Clark W. Thompson (D) | Seated August 23, 1947 |- | Texas
16th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | R. Ewing Thomason (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned July 31, 1947, after being appointed as a judge of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Kenneth M. Regan (D) | Seated August 23, 1947 |- | Massachusetts
9th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Charles Gifford (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died August 23, 1947 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Donald Nicholson (R) | Seated November 18, 1947 |- | Indiana
10th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Raymond S. Springer (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died August 28, 1947 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Ralph Harvey (R) | Seated November 4, 1947 |- | Ohio
4th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Robert Franklin Jones (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned September 2, 1947, to become a member of the Federal Communications Commission | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | William M. McCulloch (R) | Seated November 4, 1947 |- | New York
14th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Leo Rayfiel (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned September 13, 1947, having been appointed a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Abraham Multer (D) | Seated November 4, 1947 |- | Illinois
21st | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | George E. Howell (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned October 5, 1947, after being appointed judge of the US Court of Claims | colspan=2 | Vacant until next Congress |- | Virginia
4th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Patrick Drewry (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died December 21, 1947 | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Watkins Abbitt (D) | Seated February 17, 1948 |- | New York
24th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Benjamin J. Rabin (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned December 31, 1947 | style="background-color:#DCDCDC" | Leo Isacson (AL) | Seated February 17, 1948 |- | Kentucky
2nd | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Earle Clements (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned January 6, 1948, to become Governor of Kentucky | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | John Whitaker (D) | Seated April 17, 1948 |- | Kentucky
9th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | John Robsion (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died February 17, 1948 | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | William Lewis (R) | Seated April 24, 1948 |- | Missouri
10th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Orville Zimmerman (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died April 7, 1948 | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Paul Jones (D) | Seated November 2, 1948 |- | Virginia
6th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Lindsay Almond (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned April 17, 1948, having been elected Attorney General of Virginia | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Clarence Burton (D) | Seated November 2, 1948 |- | Illinois
7th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Thomas L. Owens (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Died June 7, 1948 | colspan=2 | Vacant until next Congress |- | Indiana
6th | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Noble J. Johnson (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned July 1, 1948, after being appointed as judge of US Court of Customs & Patent Appeals | colspan=2 | Vacant until next Congress |- | Texas
15th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Milton H. West (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died October 28, 1948 | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | Lloyd Bentsen (D) | Seated December 4, 1948 |- | New York
7th | style="color:black;background-color:#B0CEFF" | John Delaney (D) | style="font-size:80%" | Died November 18, 1948 | colspan=2 | Vacant until next Congress |- | South Dakota
1st | style="background-color:#FFB6B6" | Karl E. Mundt (R) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned December 30, 1948, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate | colspan=2 | Vacant until next Congress |}

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members (House and Senate) of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link (4 links), in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, on the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

  • House of Representatives Session Calendar for the 80th Congress (PDF).
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 1st Session.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 1st Session (Revision).
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 2nd Session.
  • Official Congressional Directory for the 80th Congress, 2nd Session (Revision).
  1. ^ https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/80res.pdf
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