FAQs >
Congress by the Numbers, 111th
Congress, 2nd Session
|
Current
Party Numbers: 111th
Congress, 1st Session |
| |
House |
Senate |
| Democrats |
256 |
57 |
| Independents |
0 |
2 |
| Republicans |
178 |
41 |
| Vacancies |
1 |
0 |
Sources:
CQ.com:
Members, Fact Files, Party
Ratios; and
Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of
Representatives.
See also "Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile," by Mildred Amer
and Jennifer Manning, CRS Report for Congress R40086, December 31, 2008
(10-page pdf  )
For a table showing
party control of the 80th through the 109th Congresses, see the
Congressional Deskbook,
Section 7.41.
|
Congress by the Numbers |
| |
2009 |
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
2004 |
2003 |
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998 |
1997 |
1996 |
|
Days in Session |
Senate |
191 |
184 |
190 |
138 |
159 |
133 |
167 |
149 |
173 |
141 |
162 |
143 |
153 |
132 |
|
House |
159 |
118 |
164 |
101 |
140 |
110 |
133 |
123 |
142 |
135 |
137 |
119 |
132 |
122 |
| Time in Session
(hours) |
Senate |
1421 |
989 |
1376 |
1028 |
1222 |
1032 |
1454 |
1043 |
1236 |
1018 |
1184 |
1095 |
1093 |
1037 |
| House |
1247 |
890 |
1478 |
850 |
1067 |
879 |
1015 |
772 |
922 |
1054 |
1125 |
999 |
1004 |
919 |
|
Average Length Daily Session (hours) |
Senate |
7.4 |
5.4 |
7.2 |
7.4 |
7.7 |
7.8 |
8.7 |
7 |
7.1 |
7.2 |
7.3 |
7.7 |
7.1 |
7.9 |
|
House |
7.8 |
7.5 |
9.0 |
8.4 |
7.6 |
8.0 |
7.6 |
6.3 |
6.5 |
7.8 |
8.2 |
8.4 |
7.6 |
7.5 |
|
Bills/Resolutions Introduced |
Senate |
3380 |
1590 |
3033 |
2302 |
2616 |
1318 |
2398 |
1558 |
2212 |
1546 |
2352 |
1321 |
1840 |
860 |
| House |
5691 |
3225 |
6194 |
2451 |
5703 |
2338 |
4616 |
2711 |
4318 |
2701 |
4241 |
2254 |
3728 |
1899 |
| TOTAL |
9071 |
4815 |
9227 |
4753 |
8321 |
3656 |
7014 |
4269 |
6530 |
4247 |
6593 |
3575 |
5568 |
2759 |
|
Public Laws Enacted |
Number |
119 |
278 |
138 |
248 |
169 |
300 |
198 |
241 |
136 |
410 |
170 |
241 |
153 |
245 |
|
% of total Introduced |
1.3 |
5.8 |
1.5 |
5.2 |
2.03 |
8.21 |
2.82 |
5.65 |
2.08 |
9.65 |
2.58 |
6.74 |
2.75 |
8.88 |
| Recorded Votes |
Senate |
397 |
215 |
442 |
279 |
366 |
216 |
459 |
253 |
380 |
298 |
374 |
314 |
298 |
306 |
| House
1 |
991 |
690 |
1186 |
541 |
671 |
544 |
677 |
484 |
512 |
603 |
611 |
547 |
640 |
455 |
| TOTAL |
1388 |
905 |
1628 |
820 |
1037 |
760 |
1136 |
739 |
892 |
901 |
985 |
861 |
938 |
761 |
| Vetoes |
|
0 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 2 |
5 |
5 |
3 3 |
6 |
|
Overridden |
|
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
1 Includes
quorum calls
2 Includes pocket vetoes
3 Does not include line-item vetoes
Source: CQ Weekly,
Resume of Congressional Activity January 2, 2009.
A summary of the Resumes of Congressional Activity from 1995 - 2004
appeared in Appendix 8 of the
Congressional Deskbook
2005-2007, and is
available here as an Excel spreadsheet.
|
Differences between the House
and the Senate At-a-Glance |
|
House |
Senate |
| Larger - 435 members |
Smaller - 100 members |
| Shorter term - 2 years |
Longer term - 6 years |
| Four calendars (Union,
House, Private, and Discharge) |
Two calendars
(Legislative and Executive) |
| Less procedural
flexibility / more restraints |
More procedural
flexibility / fewer restraints |
| Stronger Leadership -
power less evenly distributed |
Weaker Leadership -
power more evenly distributed |
| Role of Rules
Committee and special rules to govern floor consideration |
Unanimous consent and
complex unanimous consent time agreements to govern floor
consideration |
| Scheduling by Speaker
and majority-party leadership, with limited consultation among
members |
Scheduling by
majority-party leadership, with broad consultation among all members |
| Germaneness of
amendments generally required |
Germaneness of
amendments rarely required |
| Presiding officer has
considerable discretion in recognition; rulings rarely challenged |
Presiding officer has
little discretion in recognition; rulings frequently challenged |
| Debate always
restricted |
Debate rarely
restricted |
| Debate-ending motions
by majority vote (218 representatives) |
Cloture invoked by
three-fifths vote (60 senators) |
| Quorum calls permitted
in connection with record votes |
Quorum calls permitted
almost any time and used for constructive delay |
| Narrower constituency
- House District |
Larger constituency -
entire state |
| Elections generally
less competitive |
Elections generally
more competitive |
| Specialists |
Generalists |
| Less reliant on staff |
More reliant on staff |
| Less media coverage |
More media coverage |
| More partisan |
Less partisan |
| Adjourns at end of day |
Recesses at end of
most days |
Salary: 2009 and 2010: $174,000 2008: $169,300
2006 and 2007: $165,200 (2005: $162,100)
For more information, see Pay and
Perquisites of Members of Congress |
Salary: 2009 and 2010: $174,000 2008: $169,300
2006 and 2007: $165,200 (2005: $162,100)
For more information, see Pay and
Perquisites of Members of Congress |
Source:
Congressional Deskbook,
§§ 8.150-8.151;
Executive Order 13525:"Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay," Federal
Register, Vol. 74 No. 249, page 69231, December 23, 2009 (12-page pdf );
Executive Order 13454:"Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay," Federal
Register, Vol. 73 No. 5, page 1486, January 8, 2008 (14-page pdf )
This
page is available as a pdf
and is online at
www.CongressNumbers.com
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Last updated:
January 27, 2010
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