| 65th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
64th ← → 66th | |
 United States Capitol (1906) | |
March 4, 1917 – March 4, 1919 | |
| Members | 96 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Democratic |
| Senate President | Thomas R. Marshall (D) |
| House majority | Coalition:DemocraticProgressiveSocialist |
| House Speaker | Champ Clark (D) |
| Sessions | |
| Special[a]: March 5, 1917 – March 16, 1917 1st: April 2, 1917 – October 6, 1917 2nd: December 3, 1917 – November 21, 1918 3rd: December 2, 1918 – March 3, 1919 | |
The65th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative 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, 1917, to March 4, 1919, during the fifth and sixth years ofWoodrow Wilson'spresidency. The apportionment of seats in thisHouse of Representatives was based on the1910 United States census.
The Senate maintained aDemocratic majority. In the House, theRepublicans had actually won a plurality, but as the Progressives and Socialist RepresentativeMeyer London caucused with the Democrats, this gave them the operational majority of the nearly evenly divided chamber, thus giving the Democrats full control of Congress, and along withPresident Wilson maintaining an overall federal governmenttrifecta.
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 55 | 41 | 96 | 0 |
| Begin | 54 | 42 | 96 | 0 |
| End | 51 | 45 | ||
| Final voting share | 53.1% | 46.9% | ||
| Beginning ofnext congress | 47 | 49 | 96 | 0 |
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates control) | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) | Bull Moose (Prog.) | Socialist (Soc.) | Prohibition (Proh.) | Republican (R) | Other | Vacant | ||
| End ofprevious Congress | 227 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 200 | 1[b] | 434 | 1 |
| Begin | 213 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 216 | 0 | 434 | 1 |
| End | 211 | 212 | 428 | 7 | ||||
| Final voting share | 50.2% | 0.2% | 49.5% | 0.0% | ||||
| Beginning of thenext Congress | 191 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 238 | 1[c] | 432 | 3 |
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Because of the17th Amendment, starting in 1914 U.S. senators were directly elected instead of by the state legislatures. However, this did not affect the terms of U.S. senators whose terms had started before that Amendment took effect, In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1918; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1920; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1922.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
| State | Senator | Reason for vacancy | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oregon (2) | Harry Lane (D) | Died May 23, 1917. Successor was appointed. | Charles L. McNary (R) | May 29, 1917 |
| Wisconsin (3) | Paul O. Husting (D) | Died October 21, 1917. Successor was elected. | Irvine Lenroot (R) | April 18, 1918 |
| Nevada (3) | Francis G. Newlands (D) | Died December 24, 1917. Successor was appointed and subsequently elected. | Charles Henderson (D) | January 12, 1918 |
| Idaho (3) | James H. Brady (R) | Died January 13, 1918. Successor appointed andelected November 5, 1918. | John F. Nugent (D) | January 22, 1918 |
| New Jersey (2) | William Hughes (D) | Died January 30, 1918. Successor appointed February 23, 1918, andelected November 5, 1918. | David Baird Sr. (R) | February 23, 1918 |
| Louisiana (3) | Robert F. Broussard (D) | Died April 12, 1918. Successor was appointed. | Walter Guion (D) | April 22, 1918 |
| Missouri (3) | William J. Stone (D) | Died April 14, 1918. Successor was appointed. | Xenophon P. Wilfley (D) | April 30, 1918 |
| South Carolina (2) | Benjamin Tillman (D) | Died July 3, 1918. Successor was appointed. | Christie Benet (D) | July 6, 1918 |
| New Hampshire (3) | Jacob H. Gallinger (R) | Died August 17, 1918. Successor was appointed. | Irving W. Drew (R) | September 2, 1918 |
| Kentucky (2) | Ollie M. James (D) | Died August 28, 1918. Successor was appointed. | George B. Martin (D) | September 7, 1918 |
| Louisiana (3) | Walter Guion (D) | Interim appointee replaced by elected successor. | Edward Gay (D) | November 6, 1918 |
| Missouri (3) | Xenophon P. Wilfley (D) | Interim appointee replaced by elected successor. | Selden P. Spencer (R) | November 6, 1918 |
| New Hampshire (3) | Irving W. Drew (R) | Interim appointee replaced by elected successor. | George H. Moses (R) | November 6, 1918 |
| Oregon (2) | Charles L. McNary (R) | Interim appointee replaced by elected successor. | Frederick W. Mulkey (R) | November 6, 1918 |
| South Carolina (2) | Christie Benet (D) | Interim appointee replaced by elected successor. | William P. Pollock (D) | November 6, 1918 |
| Oregon (2) | Frederick W. Mulkey (R) | Resigned December 17, 1918, to give successor preferential seniority. Successor was appointed. | Charles L. McNary (R) | December 18, 1918 |
| District | Vacated by | Reason for vacancy | Successor | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York 15th | Vacant | Rep.Michael F. Conry died during previous congress. Successor waselected. | Thomas F. Smith (D) | April 12, 1917 |
| New Hampshire 1st | Cyrus A. Sulloway (R) | Died March 11, 1917. Successor waselected. | Sherman E. Burroughs (R) | May 29, 1917 |
| Pennsylvania 28th | Orrin D. Bleakley (R) | Resigned April 3, 1917, after being convicted and fined under theFederal Corrupt Practices Act. Successor waselected. | Earl H. Beshlin (D) | November 6, 1917 |
| North Dakota 1st | Henry T. Helgesen (R) | Died April 10, 1917. Successor waselected. | John M. Baer (R) | July 20, 1917 |
| Massachusetts 6th | Augustus P. Gardner (R) | Resigned May 15, 1917, to join theU.S. Army. Successor waselected. | Willfred W. Lufkin (R) | November 6, 1917 |
| Indiana 6th | Daniel W. Comstock (R) | Died May 19, 1917. Successor waselected. | Richard N. Elliott (R) | June 29, 1917 |
| Connecticut 4th | Ebenezer J. Hill (R) | Died September 27, 1917. Successor waselected. | Schuyler Merritt (R) | November 6, 1917 |
| Illinois 4th | Charles Martin (D) | Resigned October 28, 1917. Successor waselected. | John W. Rainey (D) | April 2, 1918 |
| Michigan 2nd | Mark R. Bacon (R) | Lost contestedelection December 13, 1917. | Samuel Beakes (D) | December 13, 1917 |
| Georgia 4th | William C. Adamson (D) | Resigned December 18, 1917. Successor was elected. | William C. Wright (D) | January 6, 1918 |
| Ohio 14th | Ellsworth R. Bathrick (D) | Died December 23, 1917. Successor waselected. | Martin L. Davey (D) | November 5, 1918 |
| New York 7th | John J. Fitzgerald (D) | Resigned December 31, 1917. Successor waselected. | John J. Delaney (D) | March 5, 1918 |
| New York 8th | Daniel J. Griffin (D) | Resigned December 31, 1917, after being electedSheriff of Kings County, New York. Successor waselected. | William E. Cleary (D) | March 5, 1918 |
| New York 22nd | Henry Bruckner (D) | Resigned December 31, 1917. Successor waselected. | Anthony J. Griffin (D) | March 5, 1918 |
| New York 21st | George M. Hulbert (D) | Resigned January 1, 1918, to becomeCommissioner of Docks and director of the Port of New York. Successor waselected. | Jerome F. Donovan (D) | March 5, 1918 |
| New Jersey 5th | John H. Capstick (R) | Died March 17, 1918. Successor waselected. | William F. Birch (R) | November 5, 1918 |
| Virginia 1st | William A. Jones (D) | Died April 17, 1918. Successor waselected. | S. Otis Bland (D) | July 2, 1918 |
| Wisconsin 11th | Irvine Lenroot (R) | Resigned April 17, 1918, after beingelected to the U.S. Senate. Successor waselected. | Adolphus P. Nelson (R) | November 5, 1918 |
| Wisconsin 6th | James H. Davidson (R) | Died August 6, 1918. Successor waselected. | Florian Lampert (R) | November 5, 1918 |
| Maryland 2nd | Fred Talbott (D) | Died October 5, 1918. Successor waselected. | Carville Benson (D) | November 5, 1918 |
| Missouri 10th | Jacob E. Meeker (R) | Died October 16, 1918. Successor waselected. | Frederick Essen (R) | November 5, 1918 |
| Illinois 17th | John Allen Sterling (R) | Died October 17, 1918. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| Virginia 6th | Carter Glass (D) | Resigned December 6, 1918, after being appointedUnited States Secretary of the Treasury. | James P. Woods (D) | February 25, 1919 |
| Pennsylvania At-large | John R. K. Scott (R) | Resigned January 5, 1919. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| New York 4th | Harry H. Dale (D) | Resigned January 6, 1919, after being appointed judge of magistrate court. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| Alaska Territory | Charles A. Sulzer (D) | Lost contestedelection January 7, 1919. | James Wickersham (R) | January 7, 1919 |
| Pennsylvania 22nd | Edward E. Robbins (R) | Died January 25, 1919. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| Missouri 5th | William P. Borland (D) | Died February 20, 1919. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| North Carolina 10th | Zebulon Weaver (D) | Lost seat after House vote on contestedelection on March 1, 1919. | James J. Britt (R) | March 1, 1919 |
| Kentucky 8th | Harvey Helm (D) | Died March 3, 1919. | Seat remained vacant until next Congress. | |
| Texas 12th | James C. Wilson (D) | Resigned March 3, 1919, to become judge ofUnited States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. | 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.
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