109th United States Congress
108th ←
→ 110th
United States Capitol (2006)
January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007
Members100 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentDick Cheney (R)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerDennis Hastert (R)
Sessions
1st: January 4, 2005 – December 22, 2005
2nd: January 3, 2006 – December 8, 2006
House of Representatives member pin for the 109th U.S. Congress

The 109th 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, from January 3, 2005, to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members were elected in the 2004 elections on November 2, 2004. Senators were elected in three classes in the 2000 elections on November 7, 2000, 2002 elections on November 5, 2002, or 2004 elections on November 2, 2004. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 2000 United States census.

This is the most recent Congress to feature a Republican senator from Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, who lost re-election in 2006.

The Republicans maintained control of both the House and the Senate (slightly increasing their majority in both chambers), and with the reelection of President Bush, the Republicans maintained an overall federal government trifecta.

Major events

Major legislation

Enacted

President George W. Bush signing the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, on September 26, 2006.
With Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) looking on, President George W. Bush signs into law Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 109–353 (text) (PDF), the North Korea Nonproliferation Act of 2006, on October 13, 2006.

Proposed, but not enacted

More information: Complete index of Public and Private Laws for 109th Congress at U.S. Government Printing Office

Hearings

  • Congressional response to the NSA warrantless surveillance program (Senate Judiciary; House Intelligence; Democrats of the House Judiciary)

Party summary

Senate

Party standings in the Senate throughout the 109th Congress
  44 Democratic senators
  55 Republican senators
  1 Independent senator, caucusing with Democrats

The party summary for the Senate remained the same during the entire 109th Congress. On January 16, 2006, Democrat Jon Corzine resigned, but Democrat Bob Menendez was appointed and took Corzine's seat the next day.

Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Independent
(I)		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 48 1 51 100 0
Begin 44 1 55 100 0
End
Final voting share 44.0% 1.0% 55.0%
Beginning of next congress 49 2 49 100 0

House of Representatives

Due to resignations and special elections, Republicans lost a net of three seats; Democrats gained one seat; three seats were left vacant; and one seat which was vacant at the beginning of the Congress was filled. All seats were filled though special elections. (See Changes in membership, below.)

Affiliation Party
(Shading shows control)		 Total
Democratic Independent Republican Vacant
End of previous Congress 204 1 227 432 3
Begin 201 1 232 434 1
March 10, 2005 202 435 0
April 29, 2005 231 434 1
August 2, 2005 230 433 2
September 6, 2005 231 434 1
December 1, 2005 230 433 2
December 7, 2005 231 434 1
January 16, 2006 201 433 2
June 9, 2006 230 432 3
June 13, 2006 231 433 2
September 29, 2006 230 432 3
November 3, 2006 229 431 4
November 13, 2006 202 230 433 2
December 31, 2006 229 432 3
Final voting share 47.0% 53.0%
Non-voting members 4 1 0 5 0
Beginning of next Congress 233 0 202 435 0

Leadership

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

Senate

Senate President
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney (R)
Senate President pro tempore
Ted Stevens
Ted Stevens (R)

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

House of Representatives

Speaker of the House
Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert (R)

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Members

Senate

In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 2006; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 2008; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 2010.

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Changes in membership

Members who came and left during this Congress.

Senate

Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
New Jersey
(1)		 Jon Corzine (D) Incumbent resigned to become Governor of New Jersey on January 17, 2006.
Successor appointed on January 18, 2006, and later elected for a full six-year term.		 Bob Menendez (D) January 18, 2006

House of Representatives

House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
California 5th None Representative Bob Matsui (D) died January 1, 2005 — before the end of the previous Congress. A special election was held March 8, 2005 Doris Matsui (D) March 10, 2005
Ohio 2nd Rob Portman (R) Resigned April 29, 2005, to become the United States Trade Representative. A special election was held August 2, 2005 Jean Schmidt (R) September 6, 2005[9]
California 48th Christopher Cox (R) Resigned August 2, 2005, to become chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A special election was held December 6, 2005 John Campbell (R) December 7, 2005[10]
California 50th Duke Cunningham (R) Resigned December 1, 2005, after pleading guilty to conspiracy for bribes and tax evasion. A special election was held June 6, 2006 Brian Bilbray (R) June 13, 2006[11]
New Jersey 13th Bob Menendez (D) Resigned January 16, 2006, to become a U.S. Senator. A special election was held November 7, 2006 Albio Sires (D) November 13, 2006[12]
Texas 22nd Tom DeLay (R) Resigned June 9, 2006, after a series of criminal indictments. A special election was held November 6, 2006 Shelley Sekula-Gibbs (R) November 13, 2006[13]
Florida 16th Mark Foley (R) Resigned September 29, 2006, after a teen sex scandal. Remained vacant until the next Congress.[14]
Ohio 18th Bob Ney (R) Resigned November 3, 2006, after pleading guilty to conspiracy.
Nevada 2nd Jim Gibbons (R) Resigned December 31, 2006, to become Governor of Nevada.

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. 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

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

Employees include:[lower-alpha 2]

See also

Elections

Membership lists

Notes

  1. 1 2 When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.
  2. ↑ See also: Rules of the House, Rule 2: "Other officers and officials"

References

  1. 1 2 Shepard, Scott (December 10, 2006). "109th may be the real 'do nothing' Congress". Cox News Service. Atlanta, GA.
  2. ↑ "Our view on Congress wrapping up: 109th Congress' big success: Lowering the achievement bar". Opinion. USA Today. MacLean, VA. December 11, 2006. Archived from the original on October 21, 2007.
  3. ↑ Cochran, John (May 12, 2006). "'Do-Nothing Congress' Raises Critics' Ire". This Week with George Stephanopoulos. ABC.
  4. ↑ "The Cafferty File: Do-Nothing Congress". The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. December 4, 2006. CNN.cnn.com
  5. ↑ "Goodbye To The Do-Nothing Congress". Face The Nation. December 10, 2006. CBS.cbsnews.com
  6. ↑ Dobbs, Lou (August 2, 2006). "Five-weeks off for 'do-nothing Congress'". CNN. Retrieved November 12, 2006.
  7. ↑ Mann, T.; Ornstein, N. (2006). The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track. N.Y., N.Y.: OUP USA. Archived from the original on September 1, 2007.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) is affiliated with the United States Democratic Party.
  9. ↑ Ohio 2nd: A primary election was held on June 14, 2005. A runoff election was held on August 2, 2005. Jean Schmidt won and took her seat the next month. See Ohio 2nd congressional district election, 2005.
  10. ↑ California 48th: A primary election was held on October 4, 2005. A runoff election was held on December 6, 2005. John Campbell won and took his seat the next day.See California 48th Congressional District Election, 2005.
  11. ↑ California 50th: A primary election was held on April 11, 2006. A runoff election was held on June 6, 2006. Brian Bilbray won and took his seat one week later.See California 50th congressional district special election, 2006.
  12. ↑ New Jersey 13th: An election was held to fill the unexpired term at the November 7, 2006 General Election. Sires was sworn in on November 13. See New Jersey 13th congressional district special election, 2006.
  13. ↑ An election was held to fill the unexpired term at the November 7, 2006 General Election. Sekula-Gibbs took her seat on November 13.
  14. ↑ 2 Election Winners to Fill Vacancies" Archived October 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, via wtopnews.com
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