List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service

This is a list of United States congresspersons by longevity of service. It includes Representatives and Senators who have served at least 36 years. It is divided up into several categories.

In cases where there is a tie in time the following criteria will sort people higher:

Achieved time uninterrupted (total tenure rank only)
Achieved time first
Senators over Representatives (House and Senate list only)
Senate or House seniority (Dan Rostenkowski versus Neal Edward Smith)

Key

In gold	Currently serving
H	Served in House (only for House and Senate combined categories)
S	Served in Senate (only for House and Senate combined categories)
I	Interruptions in service (only for total tenure categories)

Combined U.S. House and Senate time

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted tenure rank	Name	Party affiliation	Total tenure	Uninterrupted tenure	Reason for leaving
1	1	John Dingell (H)	Democratic	59 years, 21 days	59 years, 21 days	Retired
2	2	Robert Byrd (H, S)	Democratic	57 years, 176 days	57 years, 176 days	Died
3	3	Carl Hayden (H, S)	Democratic	56 years, 319 days	56 years, 319 days	Retired
4	4	Daniel Inouye (H, S)	Democratic	53 years, 118 days	53 years, 118 days	Died
5	5	Jamie Whitten (H)	Democratic	53 years, 60 days	53 years, 60 days	Retired
6	6	John Conyers (H)	Democratic	52 years, 336 days	52 years, 336 days	Resigned
7	7	Carl Vinson (H)	Democratic	50 years, 61 days	50 years, 61 days	Retired
8	8	Emanuel Celler (H)	Democratic	49 years, 305 days	49 years, 305 days	Lost renomination
9	9	Sam Rayburn (H)	Democratic	48 years, 257 days	48 years, 257 days	Died
10	999	Sidney R. Yates (H, I)	Democratic	48 years, 0 days	N/A	Retired
11	12	Strom Thurmond (S, I)	Democratic, Republican	47 years, 159 days	46 years, 57 days	Resigned, retired
12	10	Wright Patman (H)	Democratic	47 years, 3 days	47 years, 3 days	Died
13	11	Ted Kennedy (S)	Democratic	46 years, 292 days	46 years, 292 days	Died
14	13	Charles Rangel (H)	Democratic	46 years, 0 days	46 years, 0 days	Retired
15	999	Joseph Gurney Cannon (H, I)	Republican	46 years, 0 days	N/A	Defeated, defeated, retired
16	14	Adolph J. Sabath (H)	Democratic	45 years, 247 days	45 years, 247 days	Died
17	15	Don Young (H)	Republican	7004166560000000000♠45 years, 220 days	7004166560000000000♠45 years, 220 days
18	16	J. Lister Hill (H, S)	Democratic	45 years, 142 days	45 years, 142 days	Retired
19	17	Thad Cochran (H, S)	Republican	45 years, 87 days	45 years, 87 days	Resigned
20	18	George H. Mahon (H)	Democratic	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days	Retired
21	19	Warren Magnuson (H, S)	Democratic	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days	Defeated
22	20	Charles Edward Bennett (H)	Democratic	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days	Retired
23	21	Justin Smith Morrill (H, S)	Whig, Republican	43 years, 299 days	43 years, 299 days	Died
24	22	Patrick Leahy (S)	Democratic	7004159880000000000♠43 years, 282 days	7004159880000000000♠43 years, 282 days
25	23	Chuck Grassley (H, S)	Republican	7004159880000000000♠43 years, 282 days	7004159880000000000♠43 years, 282 days
26	999	William B. Allison (H, S, I)	Republican	43 years, 152 days	N/A	Retired, died
27	24	Charles Melvin Price (H)	Democratic	43 years, 110 days	43 years, 110 days	Died
28	25	Bill Young (H)	Republican	42 years, 288 days	42 years, 288 days	Died
29	26	Henry M. Jackson (H, S)	Democratic	42 years, 241 days	42 years, 241 days	Died
30	999	Carter Glass (H, S, I)	Democratic	42 years, 157 days	N/A	Resigned to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, died
31	27	John William McCormack (H)	Democratic	42 years, 58 days	42 years, 58 days	Retired
32	28	John Sparkman (H, S)	Democratic	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days	Retired
33	29	William R. Poage (H)	Democratic	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days	Retired
34	30	Jack Brooks (H)	Democratic	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days	Defeated
35	31	Ed Markey (H, S)	Democratic	7004153190000000000♠41 years, 344 days	7004153190000000000♠41 years, 344 days
36	32	Robert L. Doughton (H)	Democratic	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days	Retired
37	33	Joseph William Martin Jr. (H)	Republican	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days	Lost renomination
38	34	Orrin Hatch (S)	Republican	7004152570000000000♠41 years, 282 days	7004152570000000000♠41 years, 282 days
39	35	Dave Obey (H)	Democratic	41 years, 276 days	41 years, 276 days	Retired
40	36	Clarence Cannon (H)	Democratic	41 years, 69 days	41 years, 69 days	Retired
41	37	John C. Stennis (S)	Democratic	41 years, 59 days	41 years, 59 days	Retired
42	38	Kenneth McKellar (H, S)	Democratic	41 years, 30 days	41 years, 30 days	Lost renomination
43	39	William Natcher (H)	Democratic	40 years, 240 days	40 years, 240 days	Died
44	999	Claude Pepper (H, S, I)	Democratic	40 years, 207 days	N/A	Lost renomination, died
45	40	William P. Frye (H, S)	Republican	40 years, 157 days	40 years, 157 days	Died
46	41	Ted Stevens (S)	Republican	40 years, 10 days	40 years, 10 days	Defeated
47	42	Carl Curtis (H, S)	Republican	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
48	43	Peter W. Rodino (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
49	44	Pete Stark (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Defeated
50	45	Tom Harkin (H, S)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
51	46	George Miller (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
52	47	Henry Waxman (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
53	48	Barbara Mikulski (H, S)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
54	999	Jennings Randolph (H, S, I)	Democratic	39 years, 364 days	N/A	Defeated, retired
55	999	Eugene Hale (H, S, I)	Republican	39 years, 363 days	N/A	Defeated, retired
56	49	Leslie C. Arends (H)	Republican	39 years, 362 days	39 years, 362 days	Retired
57	50	Daniel A. Reed (H)	Republican	39 years, 352 days	39 years, 352 days	Died
58	51	George William Norris (H, S)	Republican, Independent	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days	Defeated
59	52	John Taber (H)	Republican	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days	Retired
60	53	William M. Colmer (H)	Democratic	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days	Retired
61	54	Richard Shelby (H, S)	Democratic, Republican	7004145270000000000♠39 years, 282 days	7004145270000000000♠39 years, 282 days
62	55	Jim Sensenbrenner (H)	Republican	7004145270000000000♠39 years, 282 days	7004145270000000000♠39 years, 282 days
63	56	Max Baucus (H, S)	Democratic	39 years, 34 days	39 years, 34 days	Appointed Ambassador to China
64	999	Samuel Smith (H, S, I)	Democratic-Republican, Democratic	39 years, 9 days	N/A	Retired
65	999	John Little McClellan (H, S, I)	Democratic	38 years, 329 days	N/A	Retired, died
66	57	Morris Sheppard (H, S)	Democratic	38 years, 145 days	38 years, 145 days	Died
67	58	Ernest Hollings (S)	Democratic	38 years, 55 days	38 years, 55 days	Retired
68	59	Richard Russell Jr. (S)	Democratic	38 years, 9 days	38 years, 9 days	Died
69	999	John Sherman (H, S, I)	Oppositionist, Republican	38 years, 4 days	N/A	Appointed U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, appointed U.S. Secretary of State
79	60	Russell B. Long (S)	Democratic	38 years, 3 days	38 years, 3 days	Retired
71	61	Frederick H. Gillett (H, S)	Republican	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
72	62	Wilbur Mills (H)	Democratic	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
73	63	Dante Fascell (H)	Democratic	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
74	64	Robert H. Michel (H)	Republican	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
75	65	Nick Rahall (H)	Democratic	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Defeated
76	999	Robert Crosser (H, I)	Democratic	37 years, 305 days	N/A	Lost renomination
77	999	Robert L. F. Sikes (H, I)	Democratic	37 years, 290 days	N/A	Resigned, retired
78	66	Ron Wyden (H, S)	Democratic	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
79	67	Pat Roberts (H, S)	Republican	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
80	68	Chuck Schumer (H, S)	Democratic	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
81	69	Hal Rogers (H)	Republican	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
82	70	Chris Smith (H)	Republican	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
83	71	Nathaniel Macon (H, S)	Anti-Administration, Democratic-Republican	37 years, 255 days	37 years, 255 days	Resigned
84	72	Henry Cabot Lodge (H, S)	Republican	37 years, 250 days	37 years, 250 days	Died
85	73	Steny Hoyer (H)	Democratic	7004136600000000000♠37 years, 146 days	7004136600000000000♠37 years, 146 days
86	999	Alben W. Barkley (H, S, I)	Democratic	37 years, 74 days	N/A	Elected Vice President of the United States, died
87	74	Henry B. Gonzalez (H)	Democratic	37 years, 60 days	37 years, 60 days	Retired
88	999	Francis E. Warren (S, I)	Republican	37 years, 6 days	N/A	Defeated, died
89	999	James Eastland (S, I)	Democratic	36 years, 83 days	N/A	Resigned
90	75	Joe Biden (S)	Democratic	36 years, 12 days	36 years, 12 days	Elected Vice President of the United States
91	76	John Murtha (H)	Democratic	36 years, 3 days	36 years, 3 days	Died
92	77	Henry L. Dawes (H, S)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
93	78	Felix Edward Hébert (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
94	79	Edward Boland (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
95	80	William Broomfield (H)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
96	81	Dan Rostenkowski (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Defeated
97	82	Neal Edward Smith (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Defeated
98	83	Claiborne Pell (S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
99	84	Joseph M. McDade (H)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
100	85	Paul Sarbanes (H, S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
101	86	Pete Domenici (S)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
102	87	Ralph Regula (H)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
103	88	Chris Dodd (H, S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
104	89	Jim Oberstar (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Defeated
105	90	Richard Lugar (S)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Lost renomination
106	91	Daniel Akaka (H, S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
107	92	Norm Dicks (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
108	93	Dale Kildee (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
109	94	Carl Levin (S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
110	999	Shelby Moore Cullom (H, S, I)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	N/A	Retired

Senate time

The 90th Congress was notable because for a period of 10 days (December 24, 1968 – January 3, 1969), it contained within its Senate all 10 of the longest-serving senators in history until January 7, 2013, when Patrick Leahy surpassed Russell B. Long as the 10th longest-serving senator in history. This period stretched from the installation of Ted Stevens of Alaska after his appointment to fill a vacancy to the retirement of Carl Hayden of Arizona early the next year.

The 96th Congress and 97th Congress were the periods in which most people from this list were serving together (all but Hayden, Russell Jr., Warren, Eastland, and Grassley in the former and all but Hayden, Russell Jr., Warren, Eastland, and Magnuson in the latter).

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted tenure rank	Name	State represented	Dates of service	Total tenure	Uninterrupted tenure
1	1	Robert Byrd	West Virginia	January 3, 1959 – June 28, 2010	51 years, 176 days	51 years, 176 days
2	2	Daniel Inouye	Hawaii	January 3, 1963 – December 17, 2012	49 years, 349 days	49 years, 349 days
3	4	Strom Thurmond (I)	South Carolina	December 24, 1954 – April 7, 1956 November 7, 1956 – January 3, 2003	47 years, 159 days	46 years, 57 days
4	3	Ted Kennedy	Massachusetts	November 7, 1962 – August 25, 2009	46 years, 292 days	46 years, 292 days
5	5	Patrick Leahy	Vermont	Since January 3, 1975	7004159880000000000♠43 years, 282 days	7004159880000000000♠43 years, 282 days
6	6	Carl Hayden	Arizona	March 4, 1927 – January 3, 1969	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
7	7	Orrin Hatch	Utah	Since January 3, 1977	7004152570000000000♠41 years, 282 days	7004152570000000000♠41 years, 282 days
8	8	John C. Stennis	Mississippi	November 7, 1947 – January 3, 1989	41 years, 59 days	41 years, 59 days
9	9	Ted Stevens	Alaska	December 24, 1968 – January 3, 2009	40 years, 10 days	40 years, 10 days
10	10	Thad Cochran	Mississippi	December 27, 1978 – April 1, 2018	39 years, 94 days	39 years, 94 days
11	11	Ernest Hollings	South Carolina	November 8, 1966 – January 3, 2005	38 years, 55 days	38 years, 55 days
12	12	Richard Russell Jr.	Georgia	January 12, 1933 – January 21, 1971	38 years, 9 days	38 years, 9 days
13	13	Russell B. Long	Louisiana	December 31, 1948 – January 3, 1987	38 years, 3 days	38 years, 3 days
14	14	Chuck Grassley	Iowa	Since January 3, 1981	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
15	999	Francis E. Warren (I)	Wyoming	November 18, 1890 – March 4, 1893 March 4, 1895 – November 24, 1929	37 years, 6 days	n/a
16	999	James Eastland (I)	Mississippi	June 30 – September 28, 1941 January 3, 1943 – December 27, 1978	36 years, 83 days	n/a
17	15	Warren Magnuson	Washington	December 14, 1944 – January 3, 1981	36 years, 20 days	36 years, 20 days
18	16	Joe Biden	Delaware	January 3, 1973 – January 15, 2009	36 years, 12 days	36 years, 12 days
19	17	Claiborne Pell	Rhode Island	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1997	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
20	18	Pete Domenici	New Mexico	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2009	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
21	19	Richard Lugar	Indiana	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2013	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
22	20	Carl Levin	Michigan	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 2015	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days

House time

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted tenure rank	Name	State represented	Dates of service	Total tenure	Uninterrupted tenure
1	1	John Dingell	Michigan	December 13, 1955 – January 3, 2015	59 years, 21 days	59 years, 21 days
2	2	Jamie L. Whitten	Mississippi	November 4, 1941 – January 3, 1995	53 years, 60 days	53 years, 60 days
3	3	John Conyers	Michigan	January 3, 1965 – December 5, 2017	52 years, 336 days	52 years, 336 days
4	4	Carl Vinson	Georgia	November 3, 1914 – January 3, 1965	50 years, 61 days	50 years, 61 days
5	5	Emanuel Celler	New York	March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1973	49 years, 305 days	49 years, 305 days
6	6	Sam Rayburn	Texas	March 4, 1913 – November 16, 1961	48 years, 257 days	48 years, 257 days
7	999	Sidney R. Yates (I)	Illinois	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1963 January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1999	48 years, 0 days	n/a
8	7	Wright Patman	Texas	March 4, 1929 – March 7, 1976	47 years, 3 days	47 years, 3 days
9	8	Charles Rangel	New York	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 2017	46 years, 0 days	46 years, 0 days
10	999	Joseph Gurney Cannon (I)	Illinois	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1891 March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1913 March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1923	46 years, 0 days	n/a
11	9	Adolph J. Sabath	Illinois	March 4, 1907 – November 6, 1952	45 years, 247 days	45 years, 247 days
12	10	Don Young	Alaska	Since March 6, 1973	7004166560000000000♠45 years, 220 days	7004166560000000000♠45 years, 220 days
13	11	George H. Mahon	Texas	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1979	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
14	12	Charles Edward Bennett	Florida	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1993	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
15	13	Charles Melvin Price	Illinois	January 3, 1945 – April 22, 1988	43 years, 110 days	43 years, 110 days
16	14	Bill Young	Florida	January 3, 1971 – October 18, 2013	42 years, 288 days	42 years, 288 days
17	15	John William McCormack	Massachusetts	November 6, 1928 – January 3, 1971	42 years, 58 days	42 years, 58 days
18	16	William R. Poage	Texas	January 3, 1937 – December 31, 1978	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
19	17	Jack Brooks	Texas	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1995	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
20	18	Robert L. Doughton	North Carolina	March 4, 1911 – January 3, 1953	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
21	19	Joseph William Martin Jr.	Massachusetts	March 4, 1925 – January 3, 1967	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
22	20	Dave Obey	Wisconsin	April 1, 1969 – January 3, 2011	41 years, 276 days	41 years, 276 days
23	21	Clarence Cannon	Missouri	March 4, 1923 – May 12, 1964	41 years, 69 days	41 years, 69 days
24	22	William Natcher	Kentucky	August 1, 1953 – March 29, 1994	40 years, 240 days	40 years, 240 days
25	23	Peter W. Rodino	New Jersey	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1989	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
26	24	Pete Stark	California	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2013	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
27	25	George Miller	California	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 2015	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
28	26	Henry Waxman	California	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 2015	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
29	27	Leslie C. Arends	Illinois	January 3, 1935 – December 31, 1974	39 years, 362 days	39 years, 362 days
30	28	Daniel A. Reed	New York	March 4, 1919 – February 19, 1959	39 years, 352 days	39 years, 352 days
31	29	John Taber	New York	March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1963	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
32	30	William M. Colmer	Mississippi	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1973	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
33	31	Jim Sensenbrenner	Wisconsin	Since January 3, 1979	7004145270000000000♠39 years, 282 days	7004145270000000000♠39 years, 282 days
34	32	Wilbur Mills	Arkansas	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1977	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
35	33	Dante Fascell	Florida	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1993	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
36	34	Robert H. Michel	Illinois	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1995	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
37	35	Nick Rahall	West Virginia	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2015	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
38	999	Robert Crosser (I)	Ohio	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919 March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1955	37 years, 305 days	n/a
39	999	Robert L. F. Sikes (I)	Florida	January 3, 1941 – October 19, 1944 January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1979	37 years, 290 days	n/a
40	36	Hal Rogers	Kentucky	Since January 3, 1981	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
41	37	Chris Smith	New Jersey	Since January 3, 1981	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days	7004137960000000000♠37 years, 282 days
42	38	Steny Hoyer	Maryland	Since May 19, 1981	7004136600000000000♠37 years, 146 days	7004136600000000000♠37 years, 146 days
43	39	Henry B. Gonzalez	Texas	November 4, 1961 – January 3, 1999	37 years, 60 days	37 years, 60 days
44	40	Ed Markey	Massachusetts	November 2, 1976 – July 3, 2013	36 years, 256 days	36 years, 256 days
45	41	John Murtha	Pennsylvania	February 5, 1974 – February 8, 2010	36 years, 3 days	36 years, 3 days
46	42	Felix Edward Hébert	Louisiana	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1977	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
47	43	Edward Boland	Massachusetts	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1989	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
48	44	William Broomfield	Michigan	January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1993	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
49	45	Dan Rostenkowski	Illinois	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1995	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
50	46	Neal Edward Smith	Iowa	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1995	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
51	47	Joseph M. McDade	Pennsylvania	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1999	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
52	48	Ralph Regula	Ohio	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2009	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
53	49	Jim Oberstar	Minnesota	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 2011	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
54	50	Norm Dicks	Washington	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2013	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
55	51	Dale Kildee	Michigan	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2013	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days

References

Members Who Have Served in the U.S. Congress 30 Years or More

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