99th United States Congress
98th ←
→ 100th
United States Capitol
January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1987
Members100 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush (R)
House majorityDemocratic
House SpeakerTip O'Neill (D)
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1985 – December 20, 1985
2nd: January 21, 1986 – October 18, 1986

The 99th 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, D.C., from January 3, 1985, to January 3, 1987, during the fifth and sixth years of Ronald Reagan's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1980 United States census.

The Republicans maintained control of the Senate, while the Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives – albeit with both majorities slightly reduced from the 98th Congress.

This is the most recent Congress to feature a Republican senator from Maryland, Charles Mathias, who retired at the end of the Congress.

This is also the most recent Congress in which no Democratic women Senators served and the most recent Congress in which more Republican women Senators served than Democratic women Senators.

This was the most recent session of Congress prior to the 116th to feature a Republican Senate/Democratic House split and had a third-party House member.

Major events

Main articles: 1985 in the United States, 1986 in the United States, and 1987 in the United States

Major legislation

Main article: List of United States federal legislation

Party summary

Senate

Party standings on the opening day of the 99th Congress
  47 Democratic Senators
  53 Republican Senators
Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 45 55 100 0
Begin 46 53 99 1
End 48 52 1000
Final voting share 48.0% 52.0%
Beginning of next congress 55 45 100 0

House of Representatives

House seats by party holding majority in state
  80–100% Republican
  80–100% Democratic
  60–80% Republican
  60–80% Democratic
  50–60% Republican
  50–60% Democratic
  striped: evenly split
Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Republican
(R)		Conservative
(C)
End of previous congress 267 166 1 434 1
Begin 252 181 1 434 1
End 251 180 0 4314
Final voting share 58.2% 41.8% 0.0%
Beginning of next congress 258 177 0 435 0

Leadership

Senate

Senate President
George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush (R)
Senate President pro tempore
Strom Thurmond
Strom Thurmond (R)

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

House of Representatives

House Speaker
Tip O'Neill (D)

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

Caucuses

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.

Senate

Senators are popularly elected statewide every six years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress, In this Congress, Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1986; Class 1 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1988; and Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1990.

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

Senate

See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate
Senate changes
State
(class) 		Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[a]
West Virginia
(2) 		Vacant Senator-elect chose to wait until finishing term as Governor of West Virginia. Jay Rockefeller (D) January 15, 1985
North Carolina
(3) 		John Porter East (R) Died June 29, 1986.
Successor appointed to continue the term. 		Jim Broyhill (R) July 14, 1986
North Carolina
(3) 		Jim Broyhill (R) Interim appointee lost special election.
Successor elected to finish the term. 		Terry Sanford (D) November 5, 1986

House of Representatives

See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[a]
Indiana's 8th Disputed House declared McCloskey the winner after auditors from the US General Accounting Office conducted a recount and Republican floor votes were rejected. Frank McCloskey (D) May 1, 1985
Louisiana's 8th Gillis William Long (D) Died January 20, 1985. Catherine Small Long (D) March 30, 1985
Texas's 1st Sam B. Hall Jr. (D) Resigned May 27, 1985, to become judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Jim Chapman (D) August 3, 1985
New York's 1st William Carney (C) Changed parties October 7, 1985. William Carney (R) October 7, 1985
New York's 6th Joseph P. Addabbo (D) Died April 10, 1986. Alton Waldon (D) June 10, 1986
Hawaii's 1st Cecil Heftel (D) Resigned July 11, 1986. Neil Abercrombie (D) September 20, 1986
North Carolina's 10th Jim Broyhill (R) Resigned July 14, 1986, to become U.S. Senator. Cass Ballenger (R) November 4, 1986
Illinois's 4th George M. O'Brien (R) Died July 17, 1986. Vacant Not filled this term
Illinois's 14th John E. Grotberg (R) Died November 15, 1986.
New York's 34th Stan Lundine (D) Resigned December 31, 1986.
North Carolina's 3rd Charles Orville Whitley (D) Resigned December 31, 1986.

Committees

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.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References

External links

United States Congresses (and year convened)
Category