117th United States Congress

117th United States Congress
←116th 118th→
United States Capitol (2021)
Overview
Legislative bodyUnited States Congress
JurisdictionUnited States
TermJanuary 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023
Senate
Members100
PresidentMike Pence (R)
(until January 20, 2021)
Kamala Harris (D)
(from January 20, 2021)
Party controlRepublican
(until January 20, 2021)
Democratic
(with tie-breaking VP
and through caucus)
(from January 20, 2021)
House of Representatives
Members435 representatives
6 non-voting delegates
SpeakerNancy Pelosi (D)
Party controlDemocratic
Sessions
1stJanuary 3, 2021 – January 3, 2022
2ndJanuary 3, 2022 – January 3, 2023
117th U.S. Congress House of Representatives member pin

The 117th 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 convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2021, during the final weeks of Donald Trump's first presidency and the first two years of Joe Biden's presidency and ended on January 3, 2023.

The 2020 elections decided control of both chambers. In the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party retained their majority, albeit reduced from the 116th Congress. It was similar in size to the majority held by the Republican Party during the 83rd Congress (1953–1955).

In the Senate, Republicans briefly held the majority at the start; however, on January 20, 2021, three new Democratic senators – Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California – were sworn in, resulting in 50 seats held by Republicans, 48 seats held by Democrats, and two held by independents who caucus with the Democrats. Effectively, this created a 50–50 split, which had not occurred since the 107th Congress in 2001. This was only the third time in U.S. history that the Senate had been evenly split, and the longest-lasting one ever.

The new senators were sworn into office by Vice President Kamala Harris, just hours after her inauguration. With Harris serving as the tie breaker in her constitutional role as President of the Senate, Democrats gained control of the Senate, and thereby full control of Congress for the first time since the 111th Congress ended in 2011. Additionally, with the inauguration of Joe Biden as president that same day, Democrats assumed control of the executive branch as well, attaining an overall federal government trifecta, also for the first time since the 111th Congress.

Despite Democrats holding thin majorities in both chambers during a period of intense political polarization, the 117th Congress oversaw the passage of numerous significant bills, including the Inflation Reduction Act, American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Postal Service Reform Act, Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, CHIPS and Science Act, Honoring Our PACT Act, Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, and Respect for Marriage Act.

Major events

January 6 United States Capitol attack (January 6, 2021)
Joe Biden takes the oath of office as the 46th president of the United States.
President Biden during his 2021 speech to a joint session of Congress, with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
President Biden during his 2022 State of the Union Address, with Vice President Harris and House Speaker Pelosi.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shortly after she was confirmed by the United States Senate, joined by President Biden and Vice President Harris.

Major legislation

Enacted

President Biden signs the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law, March 11, 2021
President Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, June 17, 2021
President Biden signs the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law, November 15, 2021
President Biden signs the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, March 29, 2022
President Biden signs the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 into law, May 9, 2022
President Biden signs the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law, June 25, 2022
President Biden signs the CHIPS and Science Act into law, August 9, 2022
President Biden signs the Honoring Our PACT Act into law, August 10, 2022
President Biden signs the Inflation Reduction Act into law, August 16, 2022
President Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act into law, December 13, 2022
President Biden signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 into law, December 29, 2022

Proposed (but not enacted)

House bills
Senate bills

Major resolutions

Adopted

  • H.Res. 21: Calling on Vice President Michael R. Pence to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting president.
  • H.Res. 24 (Second impeachment of Donald Trump): Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
  • S.Res. 5: A resolution honoring the memory of Officer Brian David Sicknick of the United States Capitol Police for his selfless acts of heroism on the grounds of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
  • H.Res. 72 (Removal of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee assignments): Removing a certain Member from certain standing committees of the House of Representatives
  • H.Res. 134: Condemning the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
  • H.Res. 730: Recommending that the House of Representatives find Stephen K. Bannon in contempt of Congress for refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol..
  • H.Res. 789: Censuring Representative Paul Gosar.
  • H.J.Res. 100: To provide for a resolution with respect to the unresolved disputes between certain railroads represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference and certain of their employees.

Proposed

  • H.Res. 14: Censuring and condemning President Donald J. Trump for attempting to overturn the results of the November 2020 presidential election in the State of Georgia.
  • H.J.Res. 17: Removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment.
  • H.Res. 25: Directing the Committee on Ethics to investigate, and issue a report on, whether any and all actions taken by Members of the 117th Congress who sought to overturn the 2020 Presidential election violated their oath of office to uphold the Constitution or the Rules of the House of Representatives, and should face sanction, including expulsion from the House of Representatives.
  • H.Res. 332: Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal.

Party summary

Resignations and new members are discussed in the "Changes in membership" section below.

Senate

  Party
(shading shows control)
 Total Vacant
Democratic Independent
(caucusing with
Democrats)
 Republican
End of previous Congress 46 2 52 100 0
Begin (January 3, 2021) 46 2 51 99 1
January 18, 2021 45 98 2
January 20, 2021 48 2 50 100 0
Final voting share 50.0% 50.0%  
Beginning of the next Congress 48 3 49 100 0

House of Representatives


  Party
(shading shows control)
 Total Vacant
Democratic Independent Republican Libertarian
End of previous Congress 233 1 195 1 430 5
Begin (January 3, 2021) 222 0 211 0 433 2
January 15, 2021 221 432 3
February 7, 2021 210 431 4
February 11, 2021 211 432 3
March 10, 2021 220 431 4
March 16, 2021 219 430 5
April 6, 2021 218 429 6
April 14, 2021 212 430 5
May 11, 2021 219 431 4
May 16, 2021 211 430 5
June 14, 2021 220 431 4
July 30, 2021 212 432 3
November 4, 2021 221 213 434 1
January 1, 2022 212 433 2
January 18, 2022 222 434 1
February 17, 2022 211 433 2
March 18, 2022 210 432 3
March 31, 2022 221 209 430 5
May 10, 2022 208 429 6
May 25, 2022 220 428 7
June 14, 2022 209 429 6
June 21, 2022 210 430 5
July 12, 2022 211 431 4
August 3, 2022 210 430 5
August 12, 2022 211 431 4
August 31, 2022 219 430 5
September 13, 2022 221 212 433 2
September 30, 2022 220 432 3
November 14, 2022 213 433 2
November 28, 2022 219 432 3
December 9, 2022 218 431 4
December 30, 2022 217 430 5
December 31, 2022 216 429 6
Final voting share 50.3% 0.0% 49.7% 0.0%  
Non-voting members 4 0 2 0 6 0
Beginning of the next Congress 212 0 222 0 434 1

Leadership

Note: Democrats refer to themselves as a "caucus"; Republicans refer to themselves as a "conference".

Senate leadership

Senate President
VP Mike Pence
Mike Pence (R),
until January 20, 2021
VP Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris (D),
from January 20, 2021
Senate President pro tempore
Chuck Grassley
Chuck Grassley (R),
until January 20, 2021
Patrick Leahy
Patrick Leahy (D),
from January 20, 2021

Presiding

Democratic leadership

(minority until January 20, 2021, majority thereafter)

Republican leadership

(majority until January 20, 2021, minority thereafter)

House leadership

House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D)

Presiding

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Demographics

There are 57 African American members of the US House (blue), 47 Hispanics and Latinos (red), 5 Native Americans (yellow), 18 Asian Americans (green), and 314 Whites/European American (gray). 117th Congress (2021–2023).
There are 3 African American members of the US Senate (blue), 7 Hispanics or Latinos (red), 0 Native Americans, 2 Asian Americans (green), and 88 European Americans (gray). 117th Congress (2021–2023).

Members

Senators

The numbers refer to their Senate classes. All class 1 senators are in the middle of their term (2019–2025), having been elected in 2018 and facing re-election in 2024. Class 2 senators are at the beginning of their term (2021–2027), having been elected in 2020 and facing re-election in 2026. Class 3 senators are at the end of their term (2017–2023), having been elected in 2016 and facing re-election in 2022.

Representatives

All 435 seats for voting members, along with the six non-voting delegates were filled by election in November 2020.

Changes in membership

Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation
Georgia
(2)		 Vacant David Perdue's (R) term expired January 3, 2021, before a runoff election could be held.
Successor elected January 5, 2021.		 Jon Ossoff
(D)		 January 20, 2021
California
(3)		 Kamala Harris
(D)		 Incumbent resigned on January 18, 2021, to become U.S. Vice President.
Successor appointed January 18, 2021, to complete the term ending January 3, 2023, and later elected to finish in the final weeks of the Congress and a full six-year term.		 Alex Padilla
(D)		 January 20, 2021
Georgia
(3)		 Kelly Loeffler
(R)		 Appointee lost election to finish the term.
Successor elected January 5, 2021, for the remainder of the term ending January 3, 2023.		 Raphael Warnock
(D)		 January 20, 2021
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation
New York 22 Vacant Anthony Brindisi's (D) term expired January 3, 2021, and the seat remained vacant due to the result of the 2020 election being disputed.
On February 5, 2021, a judge declared a winner.		 Claudia Tenney
(R)		 February 11, 2021
Louisiana 5 Vacant Member-elect Luke Letlow (R) died from COVID-19 on December 29, 2020, before his term started.
A special election was held on March 20, 2021.		 Julia Letlow
(R)		 April 14, 2021
Louisiana 2 Cedric Richmond
(D)		 Resigned January 15, 2021, to become Senior Advisor to the President and director of the Office of Public Liaison.
A special election was held on March 20, 2021, and a runoff was held on April 24.		 Troy Carter
(D)		 May 11, 2021
Texas 6 Ron Wright
(R)		 Died from COVID-19 on February 7, 2021.
A special election was held on May 1, 2021, and a runoff was held on July 27.		 Jake Ellzey
(R)		 July 30, 2021
Ohio 11 Marcia Fudge
(D)		 Resigned March 10, 2021, to become U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
A special election was held on November 2, 2021.		 Shontel Brown
(D)		 November 4, 2021
New Mexico 1 Deb Haaland
(D)		 Resigned March 16, 2021, to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
A special election was held on June 1, 2021.		 Melanie Stansbury
(D)		 June 14, 2021
Florida 20 Alcee Hastings
(D)		 Died from pancreatic cancer on April 6, 2021.
A special election was held on January 11, 2022.		 Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick
(D)		 January 18, 2022
Ohio 15 Steve Stivers
(R)		 Resigned May 16, 2021, to become the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
A special election was held on November 2, 2021.		 Mike Carey
(R)		 November 4, 2021
California 22 Devin Nunes
(R)		 Resigned January 1, 2022, to become the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group.
A special election was held on June 7, 2022.		 Connie Conway
(R)		 June 14, 2022
Minnesota 1 Jim Hagedorn
(R)		 Died from kidney cancer on February 17, 2022.
A special election was held on August 9, 2022.		 Brad Finstad
(R)		 August 12, 2022
Alaska at-large Don Young
(R)		 Died on March 18, 2022.
A special election was held on August 16, 2022.		 Mary Peltola
(D)		 September 13, 2022
Nebraska 1 Jeff Fortenberry
(R)		 Resigned March 31, 2022, due to criminal conviction.
A special election was held on June 28, 2022.		 Mike Flood
(R)		 July 12, 2022
Texas 34 Filemon Vela Jr.
(D)		 Resigned March 31, 2022, to join Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
A special election was held on June 14, 2022.		 Mayra Flores
(R)		 June 21, 2022
New York 23 Tom Reed
(R)		 Resigned May 10, 2022, to join Prime Policy Group.
A special election was held on August 23, 2022.		 Joe Sempolinski
(R)		 September 13, 2022
New York 19 Antonio Delgado
(D)		 Resigned May 25, 2022, to become lieutenant governor of New York.
A special election was held on August 23, 2022.		 Pat Ryan
(D)		 September 13, 2022
Indiana 2 Jackie Walorski
(R)		 Died in a car collision on August 3, 2022.
A special election was held on November 8, 2022.		 Rudy Yakym
(R)		 November 14, 2022
Florida 13 Charlie Crist
(D)		 Resigned August 31, 2022, to focus on the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election. Vacant until the next Congress
Florida 22 Ted Deutch
(D)		 Resigned September 30, 2022, to become CEO of the American Jewish Committee. Vacant until the next Congress
Virginia 4 Donald McEachin
(D)		 Died November 28, 2022, from colorectal cancer. Vacant until the next Congress
California 37 Karen Bass
(D)		 Resigned December 9, 2022, to become the Mayor of Los Angeles. Vacant until the next Congress
North Carolina 1 G. K. Butterfield
(D)		 Resigned December 30, 2022, to accept a lobbying position. Vacant until the next Congress
Pennsylvania 18 Mike Doyle
(D)		 Resigned December 31, 2022, to join K&L Gates. Vacant until the next Congress

Committees

Section contents: Senate, House, Joint

Senate committees

Prior to the passing of an organizing resolution on February 3, 2021, chairs of Senate committees remained the same as in the 116th Congress. Where the chair had retired (as in the Agriculture, Budget, and HELP committees), the chair was vacant.

Committee Chair Ranking Member
Aging (Special) Bob Casey Jr. (D-PA) Tim Scott (R-SC)
Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) John Boozman (R-AR)
Appropriations Patrick Leahy (D-VT) Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Armed Services Jack Reed (D-RI) Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Budget Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Commerce, Science and Transportation Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Roger Wicker (R-MS)
Energy and Natural Resources Joe Manchin (D-WV) John Barrasso (R-WY)
Environment and Public Works Tom Carper (D-DE) Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)
Ethics (Select) Chris Coons (D-DE) James Lankford (R-OK)
Finance Ron Wyden (D-OR) Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Foreign Relations Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Jim Risch (R-ID)
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Patty Murray (D-WA) Richard Burr (R-NC)
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Gary Peters (D-MI) Rob Portman (R-OH)
Indian Affairs (Permanent Select) Brian Schatz (D-HI) Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Intelligence (Select) Mark Warner (D-VA) Marco Rubio (R-FL)
International Narcotics Control (Permanent Caucus) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Judiciary Dick Durbin (D-IL) Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
Rules and Administration Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Small Business and Entrepreneurship Ben Cardin (D-MD) Rand Paul (R-KY)
Veterans' Affairs Jon Tester (D-MT) Jerry Moran (R-KS)

House committees

Committee Chair Ranking Member
Agriculture David Scott (D-GA) Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
Appropriations Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) Kay Granger (R-TX)
Armed Services Adam Smith (D-WA) Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Budget John Yarmuth (D-KY) Jason Smith (R-MO)
Climate Crisis (Select) Kathy Castor (D-FL) Garret Graves (R-LA)
Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth (Select) Jim Himes (D-CT) Bryan Steil (R-WI)
Education and Labor Bobby Scott (D-VA) Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
Energy and Commerce Frank Pallone (D-NJ) Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
Ethics Susan Wild (D-PA) Michael Guest (R-MS)
Financial Services Maxine Waters (D-CA) Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
Foreign Affairs Gregory Meeks (D-NY) Mike McCaul (R-TX)
Homeland Security Bennie Thompson (D-MS) John Katko (R-NY)
House Administration Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Intelligence (Permanent Select) Adam Schiff (D-CA) Mike Turner (R-OH)
Judiciary Jerry Nadler (D-NY) Jim Jordan (R-OH)
Modernization of Congress (Select) Derek Kilmer (D-WA) William Timmons (R-SC)
Natural Resources Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) Bruce Westerman (R-AR)
Oversight and Reform Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) Jim Comer (R-KY)
Rules Jim McGovern (D-MA) Tom Cole (R-OK)
Science, Space and Technology Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Small Business Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) Sam Graves (R-MO)
Veterans' Affairs Mark Takano (D-CA) Mike Bost (R-IL)
Ways and Means Richard Neal (D-MA) Kevin Brady (R-TX)

Joint committees

Committee Chair Vice Chair Ranking Member Vice Ranking Member
Economic Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ)
Inaugural Ceremonies (Special)
until January 20, 2021		 Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Library Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Printing Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Taxation Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX)

Officers and officials

Senate officers and officials

House officers and officials

Legislative branch agency directors

See also