| 79th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
78th ← → 80th | |
 United States Capitol (1956) | |
January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947 | |
| Members | 96 senators 435 representatives 4 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Democratic |
| Senate President | Henry A. Wallace (D)[a] (until January 20, 1945) Harry S. Truman (D)[b] (Jan 20–Apr 12, 1945) Vacant (from April 12, 1945) |
| House majority | Democratic |
| House Speaker | Sam Rayburn (D) |
| Sessions | |
| 1st: January 3, 1945 – December 21, 1945 2nd: January 14, 1946 – August 2, 1946 | |
The79th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of theUnited States federal government, composed of theUnited States Senate and theUnited States House of Representatives. It met inWashington, D.C., from January 3, 1945, to January 3, 1947, during the last months ofFranklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, and the first two years ofHarry Truman's presidency. The apportionment of seats in thisHouse of Representatives was based on the1940 United States census.
Both chambers had aDemocratic majority (including increasing their edge in the House). With the reelection ofPresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt to a record fourth term, the Democrats maintained an overall federal governmenttrifecta.[1]
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) | Progressive (P) | Republican (R) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 56 | 1 | 39 | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 57 | 1 | 38 | 96 | 0 |
| End | 53 | 42 | |||
| Final voting share | 55.2% | 1.0% | 43.8% | ||
| Beginning ofnext congress | 45 | 0 | 51 | 96 | 0 |
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) | Farmer– Labor (FL) | American Labor (AL) | Progressive (P) | Republican (R) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 212 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 210 | 426 | 9 |
| Begin | 242 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 190 | 434 | 1 |
| End | 236 | 191 | 429 | 6 | |||
| Final voting share | 55.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 44.5% | ||
| Beginning ofnext congress | 187 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 245 | 433 | 2 |
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 areSenate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, facingre-election in 1946; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facingre-election in 1948; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facingre-election in 1950.
|
|  2 Democrats 1 Democrat and 1 Republican 2 Republicans
|
The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress.
| State (class) | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[d] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington (1) | Monrad Wallgren (D) | Resigned January 9, 1945, after being electedGovernor of Washington. Successor was appointed to serve until the next election. | Hugh Mitchell (D) | January 10, 1945 |
| Connecticut (1) | Francis T. Maloney (D) | Died January 16, 1945. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. | Thomas C. Hart (R) | February 15, 1945 |
| Missouri (1) | Harry S. Truman (D) | Resigned January 17, 1945, after being electedVice President of the United States. Successor was appointed to serve until the next election. | Frank P. Briggs (D) | January 18, 1945 |
| North Dakota (3) | John Moses (D) | Died March 3, 1945. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently won. | Milton Young (R) | March 12, 1945 |
| Nevada (1) | James G. Scrugham (D) | Died June 23, 1945. Successor was appointed to serve until the next election. | Edward P. Carville (D) | July 25, 1945 |
| California (1) | Hiram Johnson (R) | Died August 6, 1945. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently won. | William F. Knowland (R) | August 26, 1945 |
| Ohio (1) | Harold H. Burton (R) | Resigned September 30, 1945, after being appointed anAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. | James W. Huffman (D) | October 8, 1945 |
| Kentucky (2) | Happy Chandler (D) | Resigned November 1, 1945, after becomingCommissioner of Major League Baseball. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. | William A. Stanfill (R) | November 19, 1945 |
| Idaho (2) | John Thomas (R) | Died November 10, 1945. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently lost. | Charles C. Gossett (D) | November 17, 1945 |
| Virginia (2) | Carter Glass (D) | Died May 28, 1946. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. | Thomas G. Burch (D) | May 31, 1946 |
| Alabama (2) | John H. Bankhead II (D) | Died June 12, 1946. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election. | George R. Swift (D) | June 15, 1946 |
| Vermont (1) | Warren Austin (R) | Resigned August 2, 1946, after being appointed United States representative on theUnited Nations Security Council. Successor was appointed to serve until the next election. | Ralph Flanders (R) | November 1, 1946 |
| Florida (1) | Charles O. Andrews (D) | Died September 18, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term. | Spessard Holland (D) | September 25, 1946 |
| Alabama (2) | George R. Swift (D) | Resigned November 5, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term. | John Sparkman (D) | November 6, 1946 |
| Connecticut (1) | Thomas C. Hart (R) | Resigned November 5, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term. | Raymond E. Baldwin (R) | December 27, 1946 |
| Kentucky (2) | William A. Stanfill (R) | Resigned November 5, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term | John S. Cooper (R) | November 6, 1946 |
| Ohio (1) | James W. Huffman (D) | Resigned November 5, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term. | Kingsley A. Taft (R) | November 6, 1946 |
| Virginia (2) | Thomas G. Burch (D) | Resigned November 5, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term. | Absalom W. Robertson (D) | November 6, 1946 |
| Idaho (2) | Charles C. Gossett (D) | Resigned November 6, 1946. Successor was elected to finish term. | Henry Dworshak (R) | November 6, 1946 |
| North Carolina (2) | Josiah Bailey (D) | Died December 15, 1946. Successor was appointed to serve until a special election, which he subsequently lost. | William B. Umstead (D) | December 18, 1946 |
| Washington (1) | Hugh Mitchell (D) | Resigned December 25, 1946. Successor was appointed to finish the term already having to be elected the next term. | Harry P. Cain (R) | December 26, 1946 |
| District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[d] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island 2nd | Vacant | John E. Fogarty resigned during the previous Congress. | John E. Fogarty (D) | February 7, 1945 |
| Montana 2nd | James F. O'Connor (D) | Died January 15, 1945 | Wesley A. D'Ewart (R) | June 5, 1945 |
| Virginia 3rd | Dave E. Satterfield Jr. (D) | Resigned February 15, 1945, to become general counsel and executive director of the Life Insurance Association of America | J. Vaughan Gary (D) | March 6, 1945 |
| Illinois 24th | James V. Heidinger (R) | Died March 22, 1945 | Roy Clippinger (R) | November 6, 1945 |
| New Mexico at-large | Clinton P. Anderson (D) | Resigned June 30, 1945, after being appointedSecretary of Agriculture | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| New Jersey 4th | D. Lane Powers (R) | Resigned August 30, 1945, to become a member of the Public Utilities Commission of New Jersey | Frank A. Mathews Jr. (R) | November 6, 1945 |
| Oregon 1st | James W. Mott (R) | Died November 12, 1945 | A. Walter Norblad (R) | January 18, 1946 |
| North Carolina 10th | Joseph W. Ervin (D) | Died December 25, 1945 | Sam Ervin (D) | January 22, 1946 |
| New York 19th | Samuel Dickstein (D) | Resigned December 30, 1945 | Arthur G. Klein (D) | February 19, 1946 |
| Virginia 6th | Clifton A. Woodrum (D) | Resigned December 31, 1945, to become president of the American Plant Food Council, Inc. | J. Lindsay Almond (D) | January 22, 1946 |
| Georgia 5th | Robert Ramspeck (D) | Resigned December 31, 1945, to become executive vice-president of the Air Transport Association | Helen D. Mankin (D) | February 12, 1946 |
| Pennsylvania 33rd | Samuel A. Weiss (D) | Resigned January 7, 1946, after being elected judge of Common Pleas inAllegheny County, Pennsylvania | Frank Buchanan (D) | May 21, 1946 |
| Pennsylvania 23rd | J. Buell Snyder (D) | Died February 24, 1946 | Carl H. Hoffman (R) | May 21, 1946 |
| North Carolina 8th | William O. Burgin (D) | Died April 11, 1946 | Eliza Jane Pratt (D) | May 25, 1946 |
| Virginia 5th | Thomas G. Burch (D) | Resigned May 31, 1946, after being appointed to theU.S. Senate | Thomas B. Stanley (D) | November 5, 1946 |
| Texas 6th | Luther A. Johnson (D) | Resigned July 17, 1946, after becoming judge of theUnited States Tax Court | Olin E. Teague (D) | August 24, 1946 |
| Pennsylvania 10th | John W. Murphy (D) | Resigned July 17, 1946, to become judge of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania | James P. Scoblick (R) | November 5, 1946 |
| Minnesota 3rd | William Gallagher (DFL) | Died August 13, 1946 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| Puerto Rico at-large | Jesús T. Piñero (PPD) | Resigned September 2, 1946, after being appointedGovernor of Puerto Rico | Antonio Fernós-Isern (PPD) | September 11, 1946 |
| New York 4th | William B. Barry (D) | Died October 20, 1946 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| Alabama 8th | John Sparkman (D) | Resigned November 6, 1946, after being elected to theU.S. Senate | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| Idaho 2nd | Henry Dworshak (R) | Resigned November 5, 1946, after being elected to theU.S. Senate | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| Virginia 7th | Absalom W. Robertson (D) | Resigned November 5, 1946, after being elected to theU.S. Senate | Burr Harrison (D) | November 5, 1946 |
| Wisconsin 2nd | Robert K. Henry (R) | Died November 20, 1946 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
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[edit]
| House of Representatives[edit]
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