Congress by the Numbers

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112th Congress, 2nd Session

CongressByTheNumbers.com

This web page is available as a PDF and is online at CongressNumbers.com

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Items received at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, photo by Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress LC-HS503- 1741

 

Current Party Numbers: 112th Congress, 2nd Session
	House	Senate
Democrats	190	51
Independents	0	2
Republicans	242	47
Vacancies	3

 

Sources: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives and Wikipedia.

See also

• “Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945,” CRS Report R42365, February 17, 2012 (41-page PDF)
• “Membership of the 112th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report for Congress R41647, March 20, 2012 (11-page PDF)
• “Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report R40086, December 27, 2010 (10-page PDF)
• “Membership of the 110th Congress: A Profile,” CRS Report RS22555, September 3, 2008 (6-page PDF)

For a table showing party control of the 80th through the 112th Congresses, see the Congressional Deskbook, § 5.51.

But wait! There’s more!

• Party Divisions of the House of Representatives (1789 to Present) - from the Clerk of the House
• Party Division in the Senate, 1789-Present – from the Senate Historical Office
• Charles Stewart’s Congressional Data Page – from Charles Stewart, MIT

 

Congress by the Numbers
		2012 PDF 112-2	2011 PDF 112-1	2010 PDF 111-2	2009 PDF 111-1	2008 PDF 110-2	2007 PDF 110-1	2006 PDF 109-2	2005 PDF 109-1	2004 PDF 108-2	2003 PDF 108-1	2002 PDF 107-2
Days in Session	Senate	xxx	170	158	191	184	190	138	159	133	167	149
	House	xxx	175	127	159	118	164	101	140	110	133	123
Time in Session (hours, rounded)	Senate	xxxx	1102	1075	1421	989	1376	1028	1222	1032	1454	1043
	House	xxx	993	879	1247	890	1478	850	1067	879	1015	772
Average Length Daily Session (hours)	Senate	x.x	6.5	6.8	7.4	5.4	7.2	7.4	7.7	7.8	8.7	7
	House	x.x	5.7	6.9	7.8	7.5	9.0	8.4	7.6	8.0	7.6	6.3
Bills/Resolutions Introduced	Senate	xxxx	2447	1506	3380	1590	3033	2302	2616	1318	2398	1558
	House	xxxx	4468	3098	5691	3225	6194	2451	5703	2338	4616	2711
	TOTAL	xxxx	6915	4604	9071	4815	9227	4753	8321	3656	7014	4269
Public Laws Enacted	Number	xx	80	258	125	278	138	248	169	300	198	241
	% of total Introduced	x.xx	1.16	5.6	1.38	5.8	1.5	5.2	2.03	8.21	2.82	5.65
Recorded Votes	Senate	xxx	235	299	397	215	442	279	366	216	459	253
	House 1	xxx	945	660	987	688	1186	541	671	544	677	484
	TOTAL	xxx	1180	959	1384	903	1628	820	1037	760	1136	739
Vetoes		x	0	1	0	4	5	1	0	0	0	0
	Overridden			0		3	1	0

Source: Resumes of Congressional Activity
¹ Includes quorum calls
² Includes pocket vetoes
³ Does not include line-item vetoes

See also

• “On legislative volume,” by Matt Glassman, October 12, 2011. Chart “that plots the number of public laws passed by October 1 of the first session of Congress vs. the number of laws passed during the remaining 15 months of the Congress. It plots the past 19 Congresses (93rd-111th) and a predicted value for the 112th (labeled in purple).”
• 20-Year Comparison of Senate Legislative Activity – from the Senate (1-page PDF)

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
Districts based on population	Two Senators from each state
Shorter term – 2 years	Longer term – 6 years
All stand for election every 2 years	6 year terms are staggered, 1/3 stand for election every 2 years – “continuing body”
At least 25 years of age when seated	At least 30 years of age when seated
Originates revenue legislation	Executive business (Treaties by 2/3, nominations)
Four calendars (Union, House, Private, and Discharge)	Two calendars (Legislative and Executive)
Less procedural flexibility / more restraints	More procedural flexibility / fewer restraints
Rules adopted each Congress (every 2 years)	Rules continuously in effect
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, 2010, 2011, 2012: $174,000 2008: $169,3002006 and 2007: $165,200 (2005: $162,100) For more information, see Pay and Perquisites of Members of Congress	Salary:  2009, 2010, 2011, 2012: $174,000 2008:  $169,3002006 and 2007: $165,200 (2005: $162,100) For more information, see Pay and Perquisites of Members of Congress

• Source: Congressional Deskbook, § 4.10, Pay and Allowances of Members
• Executive Order 13454: “Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay,” Federal Register, Vol. 73 No. 5, page 1486, January 8, 2008 (14-page PDF)
• 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 13561: “Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay,” Federal Register, Vol. 75 No. 249, page 81817, December 29, 2010 (14-page PDF)
• Executive Order 13594, signed December 19, 2011: “Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay,” Federal Register, Vol. 76 No. 247, page 80191, December 23, 2011 (FR Doc No: 2011-33087) (13-page PDF)

 

House and Joint Committee Ratios 112th Congress, 1st Session (Congressional Deskbook, § 5.81)
Committee			Republicans	Democrats
Agriculture			26	20
Appropriations			29	21
Armed Services			35	27
Budget			22	16
Education and Workforce			23	17
Energy and Commerce			31	23
Ethics			5	5
Financial Services			34	27
Foreign Affairs			26	20
Homeland Security			19	14
House Administration			6	3
Intelligence, Permanent Select			12	8
Judiciary			23	16
Natural Resources			27	21
Oversight & Government Reform			23	17
Rules			9	4
Science, Space and Technology			23	17
Small Business			15	11
Transportation and Infrastructure			33	26
Veterans’ Affairs			15	11
Ways and Means			22	15
Joint Committee Ratios
Joint Committee	House		Senate
	Republicans	Democrats	Democrats	Republicans
Economic	6	4	6	4
Library		2	3	2
Printing		2	3	2
Taxation		2	3	2

Senate Committee Ratios 112th Congress, 1st Session (Congressional Deskbook, § 5.82)
Committee	Democrats	Republicans
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry	11	10
Appropriations	16	14
Armed Services	14	12
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs	12	10
Budget	12	11
Commerce, Science, and Transportation	13	12
Energy and Natural Resources	12	10
Environment and Public Works	10	8
Finance	13	11
Foreign Relations	10	9
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions	12	10
Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs	9	8
Judiciary	10	8
Rules and Administration	10	8
Small Business and Entrepreneurship	10	9
Veterans Affairs	8	7
Indian Affairs	8	6
Select Ethics	3	3
Select Intelligence	8	7
Special Aging	11	10

This web page is available as a PDF and is online at CongressNumbers.com

 

 

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