110th United States Congress

The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The apportionment of seats in the House was based on the 2000 U.S. census.[1]

110th United States Congress
109th ←
→ 111th
United States Capitol (2007)
January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2009
Members100 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityDemocratic
Senate PresidentDick Cheney (R)
House majorityDemocratic
House SpeakerNancy Pelosi (D)
Sessions
1st: January 4, 2007 – December 19, 2007
2nd: January 3, 2008 – January 3, 2009
House of Representatives member pin for the 110th U.S. Congress

The Democratic Party won a majority in both chambers, giving them full control of Congress for the first time since the 103rd Congress in 1993, which was also the previous time they controlled the House.

Officially in the Senate, there were 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and two independents, but because both of the independents caucused with the Democrats, this gave the Democrats an operational majority. No Democratic-held seats had fallen to the Republican Party in the 2006 elections.[2]

This is the most recent Congress to feature Republican senators from Minnesota (Norm Coleman), New Mexico (Pete Domenici) and Oregon (Gordon Smith), in which Domenici retired and the other two lost re-election at the end of the Congress.

Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House.[3] The House also received the first Muslim (Keith Ellison)[4][5] and Buddhist (Hank Johnson and Mazie Hirono)[6] members of Congress.

Major events

Members debated initiatives such as the Democrats' 100-Hour Plan and the Iraq War troop surge of 2007.[7][8][9]

President Bush delivered the 2007 State of the Union Address on January 23, 2007
President Bush delivered the 2008 State of the Union Address on January 28, 2008

Support for the Iraq War

Following President Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address, Congress debated his proposal to create a troop surge to increase security in Iraq. The House of Representatives passed a non-binding measure opposing the surge and then a $124 billion emergency spending measure to fund the war, which included language that dictated troop levels and withdrawal schedules. President Bush, however, vetoed the bill as promised, making this his second veto while in office. Both houses of Congress subsequently passed a bill funding the war without timelines, but with benchmarks for the Iraqi government and money for other spending projects like disaster relief.

Other events
See also: 2007 in the United States and 2008 in the United States

Major legislation
Main article: List of acts of the 110th United States Congress
Contents: Enacted Pending or failed Vetoed

These are partial lists of prominent enacted legislation and pending bills.[lower-alpha 1]

Enacted
Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 110th United States Congress
House in Salinas, California under foreclosure, following the bursting of the U.S. real estate bubble.

More information: Public Laws for the 110th Congress Archived March 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine and Complete index of Public and Private Laws for 110th Congress at GPO

Proposed, but not enacted
in (alphabetical order)

Vetoed

Treaties ratified

Select committees

Hearings
See also: Congressional hearing

Party summary

Senate
  Democratic Party: 49 members.
  Republican Party: 49 members.
  Independents: 2 members.

Membership changed with one death and two resignations.

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total  
Democratic Independent
(caucusing with
Democrats)		 Republican Vacant
End of previous Congress 44 1 55 100 0
Begin 49 2[12][13] 49 100 0
June 4, 2007 48 99 1
June 25, 2007 49 100 0
December 18, 2007 48 99 1
December 31, 2007 49 100 0
November 16, 2008 48 99 1
Final voting share 50.5% 49.5%
Beginning of the next Congress 55 2 41 98 2

House of Representatives
Membership at the beginning of the 110th Congress:
  Democratic Party: 233 members.
  Republican Party: 202 members.

Membership fluctuated with seven deaths and eight resignations. Democrats achieved a net gain of three seats as a result of their victories in special elections. See Changes in membership, below.

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
Democratic Republican Vacant
End of previous Congress 203[lower-alpha 2] 229 432 3
Begin 233 202 435 0
February 13, 2007 201 434 1
April 22, 2007 232 433 2
July 1, 2007 231 432 3
July 17, 2007 202 433 2
August 21, 2007 232 434 1
September 5, 2007 201 433 2
October 6, 2007 200 432 3
October 16, 2007 233 433 2
November 26, 2007 199 432 3
December 11, 2007 201 434 1
December 15, 2007 232 433 2
December 31, 2007 200 432 3
January 14, 2008 199 431 4
February 2, 2008 198 430 5
February 11, 2008 231 429 6
March 8, 2008 232 430 5
March 11, 2008 233 431 4
April 8, 2008 234 432 3
May 3, 2008 235 199 434 1
May 13, 2008 236 435 0
May 31, 2008 235 434 1
June 17, 2008 236 435 0
August 20, 2008 235 434 1
November 18, 2008 236 435 0
November 24, 2008 198 434 1
January 2, 2009 235 433 2
Final voting share 54.3% 45.7%
Non-voting members 4 1 5 0
Beginning of next Congress 256 178 434 1

Leadership

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

Senate
Senate President
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney (R)
Senate President pro tempore
Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

House of Representatives
Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Members
Skip to House of Representatives, below

Senate

Senators are listed by state, then by class, In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 2008; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 2010; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 2012.

House of Representatives
See also: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections
Further information: List of United States congressional districts

Changes in membership
See also: Special elections to the 110th United States Congress

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

There were two resignations and one death.

Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 4]
Wyoming (1) Craig Thomas (R) Died June 4, 2007. Successor appointed June 22, 2007, and then elected to finish the term ending January 3, 2013. John Barrasso (R) June 22, 2007[16]
Mississippi (1) Trent Lott (R) Resigned December 18, 2007.[14] Successor appointed December 31, 2007, and then elected to finish the term ending January 3, 2013. Roger Wicker (R) December 31, 2007[15][16]
Illinois (3) Barack Obama (D) Resigned November 16, 2008, after being elected President of the United States, to focus on his presidential transition as President-elect of the United States.[18] Vacant until the next Congress.

House of Representatives
See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 4]
Georgia 10th Charlie Norwood (R) Died February 13, 2007. A special election was held June 19, 2007. Paul Broun (R) July 17, 2007
California 37th Juanita Millender-McDonald (D) Died April 22, 2007.[19] A special election was held August 21, 2007. Laura Richardson (D) August 21, 2007
Massachusetts 5th Marty Meehan (D) Resigned July 1, 2007, to become Chancellor of University of Massachusetts Lowell.
A special election was held October 16, 2007.		 Niki Tsongas (D) October 16, 2007
Ohio 5th Paul Gillmor (R) Died September 5, 2007. A special election was held November 6, 2007. Bob Latta (R) December 11, 2007
Virginia 1st Jo Ann Davis (R) Died October 6, 2007. A special election was held December 11, 2007. Rob Wittman (R) December 11, 2007
Illinois 14th Dennis Hastert (R) Resigned November 26, 2007. A special election was held March 8, 2008. Bill Foster (D) March 8, 2008
Indiana 7th Julia Carson (D) Died December 15, 2007. A special election was held March 11, 2008. André Carson (D) March 11, 2008
Mississippi 1st Roger Wicker (R) Resigned December 31, 2007, when appointed U.S. Senator.
A special election was held May 13, 2008.		 Travis Childers (D) May 13, 2008
Louisiana 1st Bobby Jindal (R) Resigned January 14, 2008, to become Governor of Louisiana.
A special election was held May 3, 2008.		 Steve Scalise (R) May 3, 2008
Louisiana 6th Richard Baker (R) Resigned February 2, 2008, to become President of the Managed Funds Association.
A special election was held May 3, 2008.		 Don Cazayoux (D) May 3, 2008
California 12th Tom Lantos (D) Died February 11, 2008. A special election was held April 8, 2008. Jackie Speier (D) April 8, 2008
Maryland 4th Albert Wynn (D) Resigned May 31, 2008, having lost re-nomination.
A special election was held June 17, 2008.		 Donna Edwards (D) June 17, 2008
Ohio 11th Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D) Died August 20, 2008. A special election was held November 18, 2008. Marcia Fudge (D) November 18, 2008
Virginia 11th Thomas M. Davis (R) Resigned November 24, 2008,[20] in advance of his retirement.
Seat remained vacant for the remainder of this Congress.		 None.
Illinois 5th Rahm Emanuel (D) Resigned January 2, 2009, to become White House Chief of Staff.[17]
Seat remained vacant for the remainder of this Congress.
Puerto Rico At-large Luis Fortuño (R/PNP) Resigned January 2, 2009, to become Governor of Puerto Rico.
Seat remained vacant for the remainder of this Congress.

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
Main article: Caucuses of the United States Congress

Employees

Other officers and officials include:[lower-alpha 6]

Legislative branch agency directors
See also: List of federal agencies in the United States § Legislative branch

Senate

House of Representatives

See also
Prospective Speaker Nancy Pelosi and prospective House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer meet with President George W. Bush on November 9, 2006, after the election to this Congress

Elections

Membership lists

Notes
  1. See also: 2008 Congressional Record, Vol. 154, Page D845 , Resume of Congressional Activity
  2. Including one Independent who caucused with the Democrats
  3. The Democratic Senate Majority Leader also serves as the Chairman of the Democratic Conference.
  4. When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.
  5. Although called a "caucus", it has the rank of committee.
  6. See also: Rules of the House: "Other officers and officials"

References
  1. Legislative Activities, via clerk.house.gov. Accessed April 25, 2009. Archived April 29, 2009.
  2. CBS News, Voters Usher Out Republicans.
  3. Deirdre Walsh (January 4, 2007). "Pelosi becomes first woman House speaker". CNN.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
  4. ruthholladay.com - Andre Carson on identity and belief Archived April 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. DAWN (Newspaper) Archived October 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Nash, Phil Tajitsu (November 24, 2006). "Washington Journal: Campaign 2006 In Review". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on November 21, 2007. Retrieved December 16, 2006.
  7. Espa, David (October 6, 2006). "Pelosi Says She Would Drain GOP 'Swamp'". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  8. Talev, Margaret (December 29, 2006). "Democratic majority to focus on 3-pronged plan". McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Archived from the original on March 8, 2007. Retrieved January 2, 2007.
  9. Leader Staff Dennis Kucinich's Response To President Bush's Speech Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine January 11, 2007 Cleveland Leader. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
  10. Jackie Kucinich (September 28, 2007). "Select committee on 'stolen vote' issues findings". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
  11. Bill Scher (December 19, 2007). "Record-Breaking Obstruction:How It Screwed You". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 24, 2007.; "Record-Breaking Republican Obstructionism". Campaign for America's Future. Archived from the original on November 29, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2009.;"Senate Action on Cloture Motions". Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  12. Senators of the 110th Congress "Lieberman, Joseph I." Archived December 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine United States Senate. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  13. Martin Kady II (November 15, 2006). "For Those of You Keeping Track at Home, It's Official ..." Congressional Quarterly. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved November 20, 2006.
  14. "Lott Officially Resigns, All Eyes Now on Barbour". Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  15. "Rep. Wicker Is Barbour's Choice". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  16. Senators of the United States 1789–2007: A Chronological list of Senators from the First Congress to the 111th Congress
  17. Rahm Emanuel's resignation announcement, via Yahoo.com.
  18. "Obama will resign Senate seat Sunday". Chicago Trubune. November 13, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2009.
  19. Rep. Millender-McDonald Dies of Cancer. The Washington Post, April 22, 2007.
  20. List of Vacancies Archived November 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, via Clerk.House.gov.
  21. S.Res. 424, Electing Lula Johnson Davis Secretary for the Majority of the Senate.
  22. Election of Clerk of the House and Chief Administrative Officer 2007 Congressional Record, Vol. 153, Page H1671 .
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