96th United States Congress
The 96th 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, 1979, to January 3, 1981, during the last two years of Jimmy Carter's presidency.
| 96th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
95th ← → 97th | |
United States Capitol | |
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1981 | |
| Members | 100 senators 435 representatives 5 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Democratic |
| Senate President | Walter Mondale (D) |
| House majority | Democratic |
| House Speaker | Tip O'Neill (D) |
| Sessions | |
| 1st: January 15, 1979 – January 3, 1980 2nd: January 3, 1980 – December 16, 1980 | |
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1970 census.
Both chambers retained a Democratic majority (though downgraded from the supermajority status in the previous Congress), and with President Carter, maintained an overall federal government trifecta. This is the last Congress in which the Democrats retained a trifecta for more than one term.
This is the most recent Congress to feature a Democratic senator from Idaho, Frank Church, who lost re-election in 1980.