113th United States Congress

The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives based on the results of the 2012 Senate elections and the 2012 House elections. The seats in the House were apportioned based on the 2010 United States Census. It first met in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2013, and it ended on January 3, 2015. Senators elected to regular terms in 2008 were in the last two years of those terms during this Congress.

113th United States Congress
112th 
 114th
U.S. Capitol building at dusk as seen from the eastern side (2013)
January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015
Senate PresidentJoe Biden (D)
Senate President pro temPatrick Leahy (D)
House SpeakerJohn Boehner (R)
Members100 senators
435 members of the House
6 non-voting delegates
Senate MajorityDemocratic
House MajorityRepublican
Sessions
1st: January 3, 2013 – December 26, 2013
2nd: January 3, 2014 – December 16, 2014

The Senate had a Democratic majority, while the House had a Republican majority. As of 2019, this is the last Congress in which Democrats controlled the Senate.

Major events

A government shutdown notice posted on October 1, 2013, with the Statue of Liberty in the far background[1]
  • January 4, 2013: Joint session to count the Electoral College votes for the 2012 presidential election.[2]
  • January 20–21, 2013: Second inauguration of President Barack Obama.[3] The term began January 20, but because that was a Sunday, the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies scheduled the inauguration ceremony for the next day.[3]
  • February 1, 2013: Senator Mo Cowan began his term after being appointed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Serving alongside Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, this marked the first time that two African Americans served concurrently in the Senate.[4]
  • February 12, 2013: Joint session to hear the 2013 State of the Union Address.
  • March 6–7, 2013: Senator Rand Paul led a filibuster of the nomination of John O. Brennan for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency with a 12-hour, 52-minute speech.
  • June 5, 2013: The first media reports of Edward Snowden's surveillance disclosures surfaced in the media.[5]
  • June 25, 2013: The Supreme Court struck down section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Shelby County v. Holder, ending the need for some counties and states to receive "preclearance" from the Justice Department before changing election laws.
  • June 26, 2013: The Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor, forcing the federal government to acknowledge same-sex marriages granted under the laws of states.
  • July 16, 2013: The Senate reached a deal to allow some presidential nominations to come to a vote, avoiding the "Nuclear option" for filibuster reform.[6]
  • September 24–25, 2013: Senator Ted Cruz delivered a 21-hour, 19-minute speech, one of the longest in Senate history, in opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Cruz's speech was not a filibuster, as it delayed no vote.[7]
  • October 1–17, 2013: The United States federal government was shut down as most routine operations were curtailed after Congress failed to enact legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014, or a continuing resolution for the interim authorization of appropriations for fiscal year 2014.
  • October 3, 2013: United States Capitol shooting incident
  • November 21, 2013: In a 52–48 vote, the Senate ended the use of the filibuster on all executive branch nominees, as well as on most judicial nominees. The filibuster remained in place for Supreme Court nominees and for legislation.[8]
  • November 4, 2014: United States elections, 2014, including United States Senate elections, 2014 and United States House of Representatives elections, 2014.

Major legislation

Enacted

Proposed

Appropriations bills

Fiscal year 2014

Fiscal year 2014 runs from October 1, 2013, to September 30, 2014.[9]

  • Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 2216) - proposed
  • Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 2217) - proposed
  • Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014 (H.R. 2609) - proposed

Fiscal year 2015

Fiscal year 2015 runs from October 1, 2014, to September 20, 2015.[9]

  • Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4800) - considered in the House on June 11, 2014.[10] The bill would appropriate $20.9 billion.[11]
  • Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4660) - passed the House on May 30, 2014.[12] The total amount of money appropriated in the bill was $51.2 billion, approximately $400 million less than fiscal year 2014.[13]
  • Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015 - considered in the House on June 18, 2014. The bill would provide funding of approximately $491 billion.[14]
  • Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4923; 113th Congress) (H.R. 4923) - The bill would appropriate $34 billion to the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and related agencies.[15]
  • Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4487) - passed in the House on May 1, 2014.[16] The bill would appropriate $3.3 billion to the legislative branch for FY 2015.[17]
  • Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4486) - passed the House on April 30, 2014.[18] The total amount appropriated by the introduced version of the bill is $71.5 billion.[17]
  • Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4745 or "THUD") - passed the House on June 10, 2014.[19] The bill would appropriate $17 billion to the Department of Transportation and $40.3 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.[20]

Party summary

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

Senate

Final Senate Membership
     53 Democrats      45 Republicans
     2 Independents, caucusing with Democrats
Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total Vacant
Democratic Independent Republican
End of previous Congress 51 2 47 100 0
Begin 53 2 45 100 0
June 3, 2013 52 99 1
June 6, 2013 46 100 0
October 31, 2013 53 45
February 6, 2014 52 99 1
February 9, 2014 53 100 0
Final voting share 55% 45%
Beginning of the next Congress 44 2 54 100 0

House of Representatives

Final House Membership
     201 Democrats      234 Republicans
Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
Total Vacant
Democratic Republican
End of previous Congress 191 240 431 4
Begin 200 233 433 2
January 22, 2013 232 432 3
April 9, 2013 201 433 2
May 7, 2013 233 434 1
June 4, 2013 234 435 0
July 15, 2013 200 434 1
August 2, 2013 233 433 2
September 26, 2013 232 432 3
October 18, 2013 231 431 4
November 16, 2013 232 432 3
December 10, 2013 201 433 2
December 17, 2013 233 434 1
January 6, 2014 200 433 2
January 27, 2014 232 432 3
February 18, 2014 199 431 4
March 11, 2014 233 432 3
June 24, 2014 234 433 2
August 18, 2014 233 432 3
November 4, 2014 201 234 435 0
Final voting share 46.2% 53.8%
Non-voting members 6 0 6 0
Beginning of the next Congress 188 247 435 0

Leadership

Section contents: Senate: Majority (D), Minority (R)House: Majority (R), Minority (D)

Senate

Senate President
Senate President pro tempore

Majority (Democratic) leadership

Minority (Republican) leadership

House of Representatives

Speaker of the House

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Members

Senate

Senators are listed by state, and the numbers refer to their Senate classes, In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 2014; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 2016; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 2018.

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

Senate

State
(class)
Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Massachusetts
(2)
John Kerry
(D)
Resigned February 1, 2013, to become U.S. Secretary of State.[22][23]
Successor was appointed February 1, 2013, to continue the term.
Mo Cowan
(D)
February 1, 2013
New Jersey
(2)
Frank Lautenberg
(D)
Died June 3, 2013.
Successor was appointed June 6, 2013, to continue the term.
Jeffrey Chiesa (R) June 10, 2013
Massachusetts
(2)
Mo Cowan
(D)
Appointment expired July 16, 2013, following a special election.[24]
Successor was elected June 25, 2013, to finish the term ending with this Congress.
Ed Markey (D) July 16, 2013
New Jersey
(2)
Jeffrey Chiesa
(R)
Appointment expired October 31, 2013, following a special election.[25][26]
Successor was elected October 16, 2013, to finish the term ending with this Congress.
Cory Booker (D) October 31, 2013[26]
Montana
(2)
Max Baucus
(D)
Resigned February 6, 2014, to become U.S. Ambassador to China.
Successor was appointed February 9, 2014, to finish the term ending with this Congress.
John Walsh (D) February 11, 2014

House of Representatives

District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Illinois 2nd Vacant Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) resigned November 21, 2012, near the end of the previous Congress for health reasons.[27]
A special election was held April 9, 2013.
Robin Kelly (D) April 11, 2013[28]
South Carolina 1st Vacant Tim Scott (R) resigned January 2, 2013, near the end of the previous Congress, when appointed to the Senate.[29]
A special election was held May 7, 2013.
Mark Sanford (R) May 15, 2013[30]
Missouri 8th Jo Ann Emerson
(R)
Resigned January 22, 2013, to become president and CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.[31]
A special election was held June 4, 2013.
Jason Smith (R)[32] June 5, 2013[33]
Massachusetts 5th Ed Markey
(D)
Resigned July 16, 2013, having been elected to the United States Senate in a special election.
A special election was held December 10, 2013.
Katherine Clark (D)[34] December 12, 2013
Alabama 1st Jo Bonner
(R)
Resigned August 2, 2013, to become a vice chancellor in the University of Alabama System.
A special election was held December 17, 2013.
Bradley Byrne
(R)
January 7, 2014
Louisiana 5th Rodney Alexander
(R)
Resigned September 26, 2013, to become the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.
A special election was held November 16, 2013.[35]
Vance McAllister (R) November 21, 2013[36]
Florida 13th Bill Young
(R)
Died October 18, 2013.
A special election was held March 11, 2014.
David Jolly (R) March 13, 2014[37]
North Carolina 12th Mel Watt (D) Resigned January 6, 2014, to become head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
A special election was held November 4, 2014.
Alma Adams (D) November 12, 2014
Florida 19th Trey Radel (R) Resigned January 27, 2014 following a conviction for cocaine possession.[38]
A special election was held June 24, 2014.
Curt Clawson (R) June 25, 2014
New Jersey 1st Rob Andrews
(D)
Resigned February 18, 2014, to take a position at a Philadelphia law firm.[39]
A special election was held November 4, 2014.
Donald Norcross
(D)
November 12, 2014
Virginia 7th Eric Cantor
(R)
Resigned August 18, 2014 following his primary defeat.
A special election was held November 4, 2014.
Dave Brat
(R)
November 12, 2014

Committees

[Section contents: Senate, House, Joint ] Listed alphabetically by chamber, including Chairperson and Ranking Member.

Senate

House of Representatives

Sources: H.Res. 6, H.Res. 7

Joint committees

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Elections

  • United States elections, 2012 (elections leading to this Congress)
  • United States elections, 2014 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
    • United States Senate elections, 2014
    • United States House of Representatives elections, 2014

Membership lists

Notes

  1. This is the date the member was seated or an oath administered, not necessarily the same date her/his service began.

References

  1. Bailey, Holly (October 1, 2013). "Federal shutdown closes Statue of Liberty and other top tourist sites". Yahoo News. Retrieved October 26, 2013.
  2. H.J.Res. 122
  3. "Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies". Inaugural.senate.gov. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  4. Weigel, David. "For the First Time Ever, We'll Have Two Black Senators Serving at the Same Time". Slate. The Slate Group. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  5. Volz, Dustin (December 31, 2013). "Everything We Learned From Edward Snowden in 2013". National Journal. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  6. "McCain claims Senate leaders have deal to avert showdown over Obama nominees". FoxNews. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  7. Peters, Jeremy W. (September 25, 2013). "After 21 Hours, Cruz Ends Senate Speech". the New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  8. "In Landmark Vote, Senate Limits Use of the Filibuster". New York Times.
  9. Heniff Jr., Bill (November 26, 2012). "Basic Federal Budgeting Terminology" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  10. "H.R. 4800 - All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  11. Cox, Ramsey; Marcos, Cristina (June 11, 2014). "Wednesday: School is out but Congress considers student loans, lunches". The Hill. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  12. "H.R. 4660 - All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  13. Marcos, Cristina (May 30, 2014). "House passes third '15 appropriations bill". The Hill. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  14. Marcos, Cristina (June 16, 2014). "This week: Spending bills, VA reform, leadership races". The Hill. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  15. Marcos, Cristina (July 7, 2014). "This week: Sportsmen's bill, appropriations". The Hill. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  16. "H.R. 4487 - All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  17. Marcos, Cristina (April 25, 2014). "Next week:Appropriations season begins". The Hill. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  18. "H.R. 4486 - All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  19. "H.R. 4745 - All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  20. Marcos, Cristina (June 10, 2014). "House passes fourth '15 appropriations bill". The Hill. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  21. Newlin, Eliza. "Res. Com. Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR, At-large) - The Almanac of American Politics". Nationaljournal.com. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  22. Murphy, Matt (January 28, 2013). "US senate special election to replace John Kerry will be June 25". metrowestdailynews.com. Cambridge Chronicle & Tab. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  23. Landler, Mark (December 21, 2012). "Kerry Named for the Role of a Lifetime". NYTimes.com. The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  24. Seelye, Katharine (January 30, 2013). "Governor Names Longtime Friend to Kerry's Seat". NYTimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  25. Santi, Angela (June 4, 2013). "Chris Christie: Special Election To Be Held In October For Frank Lautenberg's Seat". AP. The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  26. Cramer, Ruby (October 23, 2013). "Cory Booker To Be Sworn In To The Senate On Halloween". Buzzfeed. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  27. O'Keefe, Ed (November 21, 2012). "Jesse Jackson Jr. resigns: Read his resignation letter". washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post.
  28. "Kelly, Robin L." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  29. 2012 Congressional Record, Vol. 158, Page H7467 (December 30, 2012)
  30. Camia, Catalina (May 14, 2013). "Mark Sanford to be sworn in Wednesday". USAToday.com. USA Today. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  31. "Missouri rep leaving Congress in February". cnn.com. CNN. December 3, 2012.
  32. "2013 Missouri House 8th District Special Election". Politico.com. Politico. June 4, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  33. "Jason Smith sworn in as newest Missourian in Congress". stltoday.com. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 6, 2013. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  34. Isenstadt, Alex (December 10, 2013). "Katherine Clark wins Massachusetts special".
  35. McGaughy, Lauren (August 7, 2013). "Rodney Alexander to join Jindal administration, departure from Congress will trigger special election". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  36. Alpert, Bruce (November 21, 2013). "Vance McAllister's first visit to Washington is to take a seat in Congress". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  37. http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/360110/250/Jolly-to-be-sworn-in-Thursday-afternoon%5B%5D
  38. Sherman, Jake (January 27, 2014). "Trey Radel to resign House seat". politico.com. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  39. Ostermeier, Eric (February 4, 2014). "Andrews Exits US House with Top 10 Longest Tenure in New Jersey History". Retrieved February 27, 2014.
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