| 56th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
55th ← → 57th | |
 United States Capitol (1906) | |
March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1901 | |
| Members | 90 senators 357 representatives 4 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Republican |
| Senate President | Garret Hobart (R) (until November 21, 1899) Vacant (from November 21, 1899) |
| House majority | Republican |
| House Speaker | David B. Henderson (R) |
| Sessions | |
| 1st: December 4, 1899 – June 7, 1900 2nd: December 3, 1900 – March 3, 1901 | |
The56th United States Congress was a meeting of thelegislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of theUnited States Senate and theUnited States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1899, to March 4, 1901, during the third and fourth years ofWilliam McKinley'spresidency. The apportionment of seats in thisHouse of Representatives was based on the1890 United States census. Both chambers had aRepublican majority. There was one African-American member,George Henry White ofNorth Carolina, who served his second and final term as a representative in this Congress, and would be the last black member of Congress until 1928, and the last black member of Congress from the South until 1972.
The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) | Populist (P) | Republican (R) | Silver Republican (SR) | Silver (S) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 34 | 5 | 44 | 5 | 2 | 90 | 0 |
| Begin | 26 | 4 | 50 | 3 | 2 | 85 | 5 |
| End | 25 | 5 | 53 | 88 | 2 | ||
| Final voting share | 28.4% | 5.7% | 60.2% | 3.4% | 2.3% | ||
| Beginning ofnext congress | 28 | 3 | 53 | 2 | 0 | 86 | 4 |
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) | Populist (P) | Republican (R) | Silver Republican (SR) | Silver (S) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 122 | 22 | 202 | 3 | 1 | 350 | 7 |
| Begin | 162 | 6 | 183 | 2 | 1 | 354 | 3 |
| End | 158 | 186 | 353 | 4 | |||
| Final voting share | 44.8% | 1.7% | 52.7% | 0.6% | 0.3% | ||
| Non-voting members | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Beginning ofnext congress | 152 | 5 | 196 | 1 | 1 | 355 | 2 |
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.
At this time, senators were elected by the state legislatures 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 began with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1904; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1902.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
| State (class) | Vacated by | Reason for vacancy | Subsequent | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware (1) | Vacant | SenatorGeorge Gray's (D) term had expired at the end of previous Congress having failed to get re-elected. Legislature failed to elect Senator for this Congress, seat remained vacant for the entire Congress. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| Nebraska (1) | Vacant | Legislature failed to elect to fill vacancy in term. | Monroe Hayward (R) | March 8, 1899 |
| California (1) | Vacant | Legislature failed to elect to fill vacancy in term. | Thomas R. Bard (R) | February 7, 1900 |
| Florida (1) | Samuel Pasco (D) | Successor was elected April 18, 1899. | James Taliaferro (D) | April 20, 1899 |
| Nebraska (1) | Monroe Hayward (R) | Died December 5, 1899. Successor was appointed. | William V. Allen (Pop.) | December 13, 1899 |
| Montana (1) | William A. Clark (D) | Resigned May 15, 1900, over claim of election fraud. Seat remained vacant until the next Congress. | Vacant | |
| Iowa (2) | John H. Gear (R) | Died July 14, 1900. Successor was appointed and subsequently elected. | Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) | August 22, 1900 |
| Vermont (3) | Jonathan Ross (R) | Successor was elected October 18, 1900. | William P. Dillingham (R) | October 18, 1900 |
| Minnesota (1) | Cushman K. Davis (R) | Died November 27, 1900. Successor was appointed. | Charles A. Towne (D) | December 5, 1900 |
| Pennsylvania (1) | Vacant | Due to a failure to elect, Governor appointed Quay at beginning of term, but Senate refused to seat him. He then won a special election. | Matthew Quay (R) | January 16, 1901 |
| Minnesota (1) | Charles A. Towne (D) | Successor was elected January 23, 1901. | Moses E. Clapp (R) | January 28, 1901 |
| Utah (1) | Vacant | failure to elect | Thomas Kearns (R) | January 23, 1901 |
| District | Previous | Reason for change | Subsequent | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine 2nd | Vacant | Rep.Nelson Dingley Jr. died during previous congress | Charles E. Littlefield (R) | June 19, 1899 |
| Utah At-large | Vacant | B. H. Roberts was denied seat. King was elected to finish term. | William H. King (D) | June 19, 1899 |
| New York 34th | Vacant | Rep.Warren B. Hooker resigned during previous congress | Edward B. Vreeland (R) | November 7, 1899 |
| Nebraska 6th | William L. Greene (Pop.) | Died March 11, 1899. | William Neville (Pop.) | December 4, 1899 |
| Louisiana 5th | Samuel T. Baird (D) | Died April 22, 1899. | Joseph E. Ransdell (D) | August 29, 1899 |
| Missouri 8th | Richard P. Bland (D) | Died June 15, 1899. | Dorsey W. Shackleford (D) | August 29, 1899 |
| Ohio 16th | Lorenzo Danford (R) | Died June 19, 1899 | Joseph J. Gill (R) | December 4, 1899 |
| Maine 1st | Thomas B. Reed (R) | Resigned September 4, 1899. | Amos L. Allen (R) | November 6, 1899 |
| Pennsylvania 9th | Daniel Ermentrout (D) | Died September 17, 1899. | Henry D. Green (D) | November 7, 1899 |
| Kentucky 7th | Evan E. Settle (D) | Died November 16, 1899. | June Ward Gayle (D) | January 15, 1900 |
| Maryland 1st | John W. Smith (D) | Resigned January 12, 1900, after being electedGovernor of Maryland | Josiah Kerr (R) | November 6, 1900 |
| New York 24th | Charles A. Chickering (R) | Died February 13, 1900 | Albert D. Shaw (R) | November 6, 1900 |
| Virginia 4th | Sidney P. Epes (D) | Died March 3, 1900. | Francis R. Lassiter (D) | April 9, 1900 |
| Pennsylvania 5th | Alfred C. Harmer (R) | Died March 6, 1900 | Edward Morrell (R) | November 6, 1900 |
| Alabama 4th | Gaston A. Robbins (D) | Lost contested election March 8, 1900 | William F. Aldrich (R) | March 8, 1900 |
| Virginia 2nd | William A. Young (D) | Lost contested election March 12, 1900 | Richard A. Wise (R) | March 12, 1900 |
| Alabama 8th | Joseph Wheeler (D) | Resigned April 20, 1900. | William N. Richardson (D) | December 3, 1900 |
| North Carolina 9th | William T. Crawford (D) | Lost contested election May 10, 1900 | Richmond Pearson (R) | May 10, 1900 |
| Iowa 9th | Smith McPherson (R) | Resigned June 6, 1900, after being appointed judge for theUnited States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa | Walter I. Smith (R) | December 3, 1900 |
| Delaware At-large | John H. Hoffecker (R) | Died June 16, 1900 | Walter O. Hoffecker (R) | November 6, 1900 |
| New Jersey 7th | William D. Daly (D) | Died July 31, 1900. | Allan L. McDermott (D) | December 3, 1900 |
| California 2nd | Marion De Vries (D) | Resigned August 20, 1900, after being appointed to theBoard of General Appraisers | Samuel D. Woods (R) | December 3, 1900 |
| Iowa 10th | Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) | Resigned August 22, 1900, after being appointed to theU.S. Senate | James P. Conner (R) | December 4, 1900 |
| Hawaii Territory | New seat | Seat established by theHawaiian Organic Act April 30, 1900 | Robert W. Wilcox (Home Rule) | November 6, 1900 |
| Virginia 2nd | Richard A. Wise (R) | Died December 21, 1900 | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
| New Hampshire 2nd | Frank G. Clarke (R) | Died January 9, 1901 | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
| New York 24th | Albert D. Shaw (R) | Died February 10, 1901 | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
| Maine 4th | Charles A. Boutelle (R) | Resigned March 3, 1901 | Seat remained vacant until next Congress | |
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.
