| 80th United States Congress | |||
United States Capitol (1956) |
|||
|
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949 | |||
|
|
|||
| Senate President: | Vacant | ||
| Senate Pres. pro tem: | Arthur H. Vandenberg | ||
| House Speaker: | Joseph William Martin, Jr. | ||
| Members: | 96 Senators 435 Representatives 3 Non-voting members |
||
| Senate Majority: | Republican Party | ||
| House Majority: | Republican Party | ||
|
|
|||
| 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 S. 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. The Democrats had the majorities in the previous Congress and they regained them back in the next Congress.
The 80th Congress was nicknamed the "Do Nothing Congress" by President Harry Truman. The Congress opposed many of the bills passed during the Franklin Roosevelt administration. They also opposed most of Truman's Fair Deal bills. Yet they passed many pro-business bills. During the 1948 election Truman campaigned as much against the "Do Nothing Congress" as against his formal opponent, Thomas Dewey.
From the beginning to the end of this Congress, there was no net change in party power.
| Affiliation | Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Democratic | Progressive | Vacant | ||
| End of previous Congress | 38 | 57 | 1 | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 51 | 45 | 0 | 96 | 0 |
| End | |||||
| Final voting share | 53.1% | 46.9% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of the next Congress | 42 | 54 | 0 | 96 | 0 |
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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
[ Section contents: Senate: Majority (R), Minority (D) • House: Majority (R), Minority (D) ]
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.
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.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress
There were 3 deaths, 2 resignations, and one lost mid-term election.
| State (class) |
Former senator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi (1) |
Theodore Bilbo (D) | Died August 21, 1947. Successor was elected to finish term. |
John Stennis (D) | Appointed November 17, 1947 |
| Louisiana (3) |
John Holmes Overton (D) | Died May 14, 1948. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
William C. Feazel (D) | Appointed May 18, 1948 |
| South Dakota (2) |
Harlan Bushfield (R) | Died September 27, 1948. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. |
Vera Bushfield (R) | Appointed October 6, 1948 |
| South Dakota (2) |
Vera Bushfield (R) | Resigned December 26, 1948. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Karl Earl Mundt (R) | Appointed December 31, 1948 |
| Louisiana (3) |
William C. Feazel (D) | Resigned December 30, 1948. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Russell B. Long (D) | Appointed December 31, 1948 |
| North Carolina (2) |
William Umstead (D) | Resigned December 30, 1948. Successor was elected to finish term. |
Melville Broughton (D) | Won mid-term election and seated December 31, 1948 |
There were 9 deaths and 7 resignations.
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama 8th |
Vacant | John Sparkman resigned in previous Congress after being elected to the US Senate | Robert E. Jones, Jr. (D) | Seated January 28, 1947 |
| Wisconsin 2nd |
Vacant | Robert K. Henry died during previous Congress | Glenn R. Davis (R) | Seated April 22, 1947 |
| Washington 3rd |
Fred Norman (R) | Died April 18, 1947 | Russell Mack (R) | Seated June 7, 1947 |
| Pennsylvania 8th |
Charles Gerlach (R) | Died May 5, 1947 | Franklin Lichtenwalter (R) | Seated September 9, 1947 |
| Maryland 3rd |
Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. (D) | Resigned May 16, 1947 after being elected Mayor of Baltimore | Edward Garmatz (D) | Seated July 15, 1947 |
| Michigan 11th |
Fred Bradley (R) | Died May 24, 1947 | Charles Potter (R) | Seated August 26, 1947 |
| Texas 9th |
Joseph J. Mansfield (D) | Died July 12, 1947 | Clark W. Thompson (D) | Seated August 23, 1947 |
| Texas 16th |
R. Ewing Thomason (D) | Resigned July 31, 1947 after being appointed as a judge of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas | Kenneth M. Regan (D) | Seated August 23, 1947 |
| Massachusetts 9th |
Charles Gifford (R) | Died August 23, 1947 | Donald Nicholson (R) | Seated November 18, 1947 |
| Indiana 10th |
Raymond S. Springer (R) | Died August 28, 1947 | Ralph Harvey (R) | Seated November 4, 1947 |
| Ohio 4th |
Robert Franklin Jones (R) | Resigned September 2, 1947, to become a member of the Federal Communications Commission | William M. McCulloch (R) | Seated November 4, 1947 |
| New York 14th |
Leo Rayfiel (D) | Resigned September 13, 1947, having been appointed a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York | Abraham Multer (D) | Seated November 4, 1947 |
| Illinois 21st |
George E. Howell (R) | Resigned October 5, 1947 after being appointed judge of the US Court of Claims | Vacant until next Congress | |
| Virginia 4th |
Patrick Drewry (D) | Died December 21, 1947 | Watkins Abbitt (D) | Seated February 17, 1948 |
| New York 24th |
Benjamin J. Rabin (D) | Resigned December 31, 1947 | Leo Isacson (AL) | Seated February 17, 1948 |
| Kentucky 2nd |
Earle Clements (D) | Resigned January 6, 1948 to become Governor of Kentucky | John Whitaker (D) | Seated April 17, 1948 |
| Kentucky 9th |
John Robsion (R) | Died February 17, 1948 | William Lewis (R) | Seated April 24, 1948 |
| Missouri 10th |
Orville Zimmerman (D) | Died April 7, 1948 | Paul Jones (D) | Seated November 2, 1948 |
| Virginia 6th |
Lindsay Almond (D) | Resigned April 17, 1948, having been elected Attorney General of Virginia | Clarence Burton (D) | Seated November 2, 1948 |
| Illinois 7th |
Thomas L. Owens (R) | Died June 7, 1948 | Vacant until next Congress | |
| Indiana 6th |
Noble J. Johnson (R) | Resigned July 1, 1948 after being appointed as judge of US Court of Customs & Patent Appeals | Vacant until next Congress | |
| Texas 15th |
Milton H. West (D) | Died October 28, 1948 | Lloyd Bentsen (D) | Seated December 4, 1948 |
| New York 7th |
John Delaney (D) | Died November 18, 1948 | Vacant until next Congress | |
| South Dakota 1st |
Karl E. Mundt (R) | Resigned December 30, 1948 after being appointed to the U.S. Senate | Vacant until next Congress | |
|
||||||||||||||||||