80th United States Congress


The 80th 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. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1947, to January 3, 1949, during the third and fourth years of Harry Truman's presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixteenth Census of the United States in 1940. Republicans gained a majority in both chambers for this Congress having gained thirteen Senate seats and fifty-seven House seats. Although the 80th Congress passed a total of 906 public bills, President Truman nicknamed it the "Do Nothing Congress" and, during the 1948 election, campaigned as much against it as against his formal opponent, Thomas E. Dewey. The 80th Congress passed several significant pro-business bills, most famously the Marshall Plan and the Taft–Hartley Act, but it opposed most of Truman's Fair Deal bills. Truman's campaign strategy worked, and the Republicans lost nine Senate seats and seventy-three seats in the House, allowing the Democrats to begin the 81st Congress with twenty-one more seats than they had at the end of the 79th Congress. It also allowed Truman to win a term of his own right as President, having become President after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945.

Major events

Senate

House of Representatives

From the beginning to the end of this Congress, there was no net change in party power. The Democrats lost one seat, which remained vacant until the next Congress.

Leadership

Senate

Senate

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 are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1948; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1950; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1952.

Alabama">List of United States Senators from Alabama">Alabama

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide at-large, are preceded by an "At-Large," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.
The congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.

[List of [United States Representatives from Alabama|Alabama]]

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress

Senate

There were 3 deaths, 2 resignations, and one lost mid-term election.

House of Representatives

There were 9 deaths and 7 resignations.

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link, in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, 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

Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States#Legislative branch">Legislative branch agency directors