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.
109th United States Congress | |
---|---|
108th ← → 110th | |
January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2007 | |
Members | 100 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates |
Senate majority | Republican |
Senate President | Dick Cheney (R) |
House majority | Republican |
House Speaker | Dennis Hastert (R) |
Sessions | |
1st: January 4, 2005 – December 22, 2005 2nd: January 3, 2006 – December 8, 2006 |
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.
More information: Complete index of Public and Private Laws for 109th Congress at U.S. Government Printing Office
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 |
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 |
Section contents: Senate: Majority (R), Minority (D) • House: Majority (R), Minority (D)
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.
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Members who came and left during this Congress.
State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[a] |
---|---|---|---|---|
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 |
District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[a] |
---|---|---|---|---|
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. |
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.
Employees include:[b]