The 95th 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, 1977, to January 3, 1979, during the final weeks of Gerald Ford's presidency and the first two years of Jimmy Carter's presidency.
| 95th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
94th ← → 96th | |
United States Capitol (c. 1970)
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January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Members | 100 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Democratic |
| Senate President | Nelson Rockefeller (R)[a] (until January 20, 1977) Walter Mondale (D) (from January 20, 1977) |
| House majority | Democratic |
| House Speaker | Tip O'Neill (D) |
| Sessions | |
| 1st: January 4, 1977 – December 15, 1977 2nd: January 19, 1978 – October 15, 1978 | |
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1970 United States census. Both chambers maintained a Democratic supermajority, and with Jimmy Carter being sworn in as president on January 20, 1977, this gave the Democrats an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 90th Congress ending in 1969.
As of 2022[update], this was the most recent Congress to approve an amendment (the unratified District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment) to the Constitution. This is the last time the Democratic Party or any political party held a 2/3 supermajority in the House.
This is the last congress to at any point have no female senators (from its beginning, January 3, 1977, until the swearing-in of Muriel Humphrey (D-MN) on January 25, 1978; and again from the departure of both Humphrey and Maryon Allen (D-AL) on November 7, 1978, to the early swearing-in of Nancy Kassebaum (R-KS) on December 23, 1978).[1]
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative (C) |
Democratic (D) | Independent (I) | Republican (R) |
|||
| End of previous congress | 1 | 60 | 1 | 38 | 100 | 0 |
| Begin | 0 | 61 | 1 | 38 | 100 | 0 |
| End | 58 | 41 | ||||
| Final voting share | 0.0% | 58.0% | 1.0% | 41.0% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 0 | 58 | 1 | 41 | 100 | 0 |
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Republican (R) | |||
| End of previous congress | 287 | 146 | 433 | 2 |
| Begin | 292 | 143 | 435 | 0 |
| End | 275 | 141 | 416 | 19 |
| Final voting share | 66.1% | 33.9% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 276 | 157 | 433 | 2 |
In this Congress, Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1978; Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1980; and Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1982.
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2 Democrats
1 Democrat and 1 Republican
2 Republicans
1 Independent and 1 Republican
Senate majority leadership 
Senate minority leadership 
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Members of the House of Representatives elected statewide at-large, are preceded by "At-large", and the names of those elected from districts, are preceded by their district numbers.
Many of the congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
| State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas (2) |
John L. McClellan (D) |
Died November 28, 1977. Successor appointed to finish the term. |
Kaneaster Hodges Jr. (D) |
December 10, 1977 |
| Montana (2) |
Lee Metcalf (D) |
Died January 12, 1978. Successor appointed to finish the term. |
Paul G. Hatfield (D) |
January 22, 1978 |
| Minnesota (1) |
Hubert Humphrey (DFL) |
Died January 13, 1978. Successor appointed to continue the term. |
Muriel Humphrey (D) |
January 25, 1978 |
| Alabama (3) |
James Allen (D) |
Died June 1, 1978. Successor appointed to continue the term. |
Maryon Pittman Allen (D) |
June 8, 1978 |
| Alabama (3) |
Maryon Pittman Allen (D) |
Appointee lost special election. Successor elected November 7, 1978. |
Donald Stewart (D) |
November 8, 1978 |
| Minnesota (1) |
Muriel Humphrey (DFL) |
Appointee retired when successor qualified. Successor elected November 7, 1978. |
David Durenberger (R) |
November 8, 1978 |
| Montana (2) |
Paul G. Hatfield (D) |
Lost nomination to the next term. Resigned early December 12, 1978. Successor appointed, having already been elected to the next term. |
Max Baucus (D) |
December 15, 1978 |
| Kansas (2) |
James B. Pearson (R) |
Resigned December 23, 1978. Successor appointed, having already been elected to the next term. |
Nancy Kassebaum (R) |
December 23, 1978 |
| Mississippi (2) |
James Eastland (D) |
Resigned December 27, 1978. Successor appointed, having already been elected to the next term. |
Thad Cochran (R) |
December 27, 1978 |
| Minnesota (2) |
Wendell R. Anderson (DFL) |
Resigned December 29, 1978. Successor appointed, having already been elected to the next term. |
Rudy Boschwitz (R) |
December 30, 1978 |
| Wyoming (2) |
Clifford Hansen (R) |
Resigned December 31, 1978. Successor appointed, having already been elected to the next term. |
Alan Simpson (R) |
January 1, 1979 |
| Virginia (2) |
William L. Scott (R) |
Resigned January 1, 1979. Successor appointed, having already been elected to the next term. |
John Warner (R) |
January 2, 1979 |
| District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[b] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota 7th | Robert Bergland (DFL) | Resigned January 22, 1977, after being appointed United States Secretary of Agriculture | Arlan Stangeland (R) | February 22, 1977 |
| Washington 7th | Brock Adams (D) | Resigned January 22, 1977, after being appointed United States Secretary of Transportation | John E. Cunningham (R) | May 17, 1977 |
| Georgia 5th | Andrew Young (D) | Resigned January 29, 1977, after being appointed United States Ambassador to the United Nations | Wyche Fowler (D) | April 6, 1977 |
| Louisiana 1st | Richard Alvin Tonry (D) | Forced to resign May 4, 1977 | Bob Livingston (R) | August 27, 1977 |
| New York 18th | Ed Koch (D) | Resigned December 31, 1977, after being elected Mayor of New York City | Bill Green (R) | February 14, 1978 |
| New York 21st | Herman Badillo (D) | Resigned December 31, 1977, after becoming Deputy Mayor of New York City. Elected on the Republican and Liberal tickets on February 14, but officially took office as a Democrat after being accepted by the caucus on February 21. | Robert Garcia (D) | February 21, 1978 |
| Tennessee 5th | Clifford Allen (D) | Died June 18, 1978 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| California 18th | William M. Ketchum (R) | Died June 24, 1978 | ||
| Illinois 1st | Ralph Metcalfe (D) | Died October 10, 1978 | ||
| Maryland 6th | Goodloe Byron (D) | Died October 11, 1978 | ||
| California 11th | Leo Ryan (D) | Murdered by members of the Peoples Temple at the Guyana Airport November 18, 1978, shortly before the Jonestown Massacre | ||
| Wisconsin 6th | William A. Steiger (R) | Died December 4, 1978 | ||
| Montana 1st | Max Baucus (D) | Resigned December 14, 1978, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate having already been elected. | ||
| Mississippi 4th | Thad Cochran (R) | Resigned December 26, 1978, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate having already been elected. | ||
| Wyoming at-large | Teno Roncalio (D) | Resigned December 30, 1978 | ||
| California 3rd | John E. Moss (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| California 14th | John J. McFall (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| California 33rd | Del M. Clawson (R) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| Kansas 5th | Joe Skubitz (R) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| Michigan 10th | Elford Albin Cederberg (R) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| New Jersey 14th | Joseph A. LeFante (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| New York 9th | James J. Delaney (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| Texas 6th | Olin E. Teague (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| Texas 11th | William R. Poage (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 | ||
| Texas 17th | Omar Burleson (D) | Resigned December 31, 1978 |
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
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House of Representatives
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