When does 113th congress begin

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Majority Leaders. Bean Soup! Featured Black Americans in Congress. Featured Mace of the U. The answer to that is no. The nuclear option uses an interpretation of Senate procedure to be able to change chamber rules with a simple majority vote. In this case, the option was used to change the vote requirement for executive nominee confirmations to be considered on the floor. The nuclear option changed the requirement to a simple majority. The threat of the nuclear option occurred in many Congresses, but none had put the option into use.

The nuclear option was invoked in response to Senate Republicans blocking the nomination of three D. Circuit Court judges. The rule change passed by a vote of , with Carl Levin , Joe Manchin and Mark Pryor being the only Democrats to vote in opposition. According to the Congressional Research Service, of the 67 times between and the filibuster was used on a judicial nominee, 31 were during during the Obama administration.

The change in rules specifically did not apply to legislation or Supreme Court nominees. During the th Congress swearing in ceremony and election for Speaker of the House, Ohio representative and Speaker of the th Congress John Boehner R saw nine Republican members of Congress either vote for someone else or abstain and vote present. This was a change from the Speaker election in , where Boehner received votes from the entire member Republican caucus.

Boehner won re-election to the speakership with votes. He needed a majority of members voting, which required of the who voted. Not all members who voted for someone other than Boehner or Pelosi voted for a current member of the U. House, although all previous speakers have been. Following the vote, the leadership of the U. House of Representatives remained the same as it was in the th United States Congress.

These numbers reflect the makeup of the th Congress. For the makeup of the th Congress, please visit the th United States Congress. The th Congress saw low approval ratings throughout most of its session. In November of , Gallup reported a nine percent approval rating for Congress. This was effectively the lowest approval rating for Congress ever recorded. A poll by CNN was released in December of and stated that two-thirds of Americans believed the th Congress was the worst of their lifetime.

Some historical facts about the salary of United States Congress members:. According to OpenCongress , a website that tracks how often members of Congress vote with the majority of their party caucus. In May , there were 51 Democrats and 45 Republicans tracked. Republicans: [42]. In May , there were Democrats and Republicans tracked. Republicans: [44]. The following data lists the professions of the members of the U.

Senate in and the change in their numbers from the th Congress. House in and the change in their numbers from the th Congress. The th Congress enacted the second fewest laws in the nation's history.

During its two year session, representatives enacted new laws. This was only second to the th Congress, which only enacted new laws.

Analysis from Josh Tauberer of GovTrack shows that the both the th and th Congress were similar in terms of productivity. Though the raw numbers show the th lagging behind, Tauberer argues that the th could still be the least productive in terms of gridlock.

But Congress picked up the pace during the lame-duck session, passing a flurry of bills, including the massive spending bill called the "Cromnibus.

The th Congress was the most diverse Congress in the nation's history, owing to a record number of newly elected women and minorities.

Members new to the session, including the first Buddhist to hold a seat in the Senate, were elected on November 6, There were three Latino, one African American and 20 female members of the U. Senate in the th Congress. The leadership prohibited of those amendments from being offered on the floor. It is true that most amendments made it to the floor.

However, for most of the past 53 years this bill has passed the Congress, this bill was brought up under open rules, allowing any representative to debate and offer amendments to the bill. And further, the NDAA is the exception to the rule. Only 14 amendments made it through the Rules Committee to the House floor. Additionally, the Rules Committee forces members to pre-print amendments to a bill hours in advance of their hearing, often deterring members from submitting amendments.

The Senate, historically known for open debate and deliberation, did not fair much better. Majority Leader Harry Reid used his procedural prerogatives to stifle the regular amendment process. Like the House, this tactic cuts out senators from the amendment process. Like the House, this is not new. However, this Senate was particularly bad. Only four bills out of the more than fifty receiving roll call votes in the th Congress had more than 5 votes on amendments. Obstruction and filibusters have reached an all-time high.

Processes that were once open for the membership to debate are now closed. However, current practice in both chambers and from both parties brings the principle of open debate and deliberation into serious question. It is rarely mentioned but nonetheless important: how party leaders use the process affects how members of the parties behave within it.

The party rank-and-file share blame in this story.