70th United States Congress

The 70th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1927, to March 4, 1929, during the last two years of Calvin Coolidge's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1910 United States census.

70th United States Congress
69th ←
→ 71st
United States Capitol (1906)
March 4, 1927 – March 4, 1929
Members96 senators
435 representatives
5 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentCharles G. Dawes (R)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerNicholas Longworth (R)
Sessions
1st: December 5, 1927 – May 29, 1928
2nd: December 3, 1928 – March 3, 1929

Both chambers had a Republican majority - albeit reduced from the previous Congress - and along with President Coolidge, the Republicans maintained an overall federal government trifecta.[1]

Major events
Main articles: 1927 in the United States, 1928 in the United States, and 1929 in the United States
Opening of the 70th Congress
  • This was the last Congress to be exclusively white and the last to not have a single black member of Congress in either chamber.

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 70th United States Congress

Party summary
Senate composition by state
  2 Democrats (19 states)
  2 Republicans (18 states)
  1 Democrat and 1 Republican (11 states)
  1 Republican and 1 Farmer-Labor (1 state)

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Farmer–
Labor
(FL)		Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 42 1 52 95 1
Begin 47 1 46 94 2
End 45 49 951
Final voting share 47.4% 1.1% 51.6%
Beginning of next congress 39 1 54 94 2

House of Representatives
Party
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)		 Farmer–
Labor
(FL)		Republican
(R)		Socialist
(S)
End of previous congress 182 3 246 2 433 2
Begin 194 2 237 1 434 1
End 193 232 4287
Final voting share 45.1% 0.5% 54.2% 0.2%
Beginning of next congress 164 1 268 0 433 2

Leadership
Senate President
Charles G. Dawes (R)
Charles G. Dawes (R)
Senate Presidents pro tempore
George H. Moses (R)
George H. Moses (R)
House Speaker
Nicholas Longworth (R)
Nicholas Longworth (R)

Senate

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

House of Representatives

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state.

Senate

Senators are listed by class. They were elected every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1928; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1930; and Class 3 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1932.

House of Representatives

Members of the House of Representatives are listed by district.

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate
Senate changes
State
(class)		 Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 3]
Pennsylvania
(3)		 Vacant Election of William S. Vare was not certified by the governor and the Senate refused to seat him. Vacant Seat remained vacant until the next Congress.
Illinois
(3)		 Vacant Senator-elect Frank L. Smith was not permitted to qualify and resigned February 9, 1928.
Successor elected November 6, 1928.		 Otis F. Glenn (R) December 3, 1928
New Mexico
(1)		 Andrieus A. Jones (D) Died December 20, 1927.
Successor appointed December 29, 1927.
Successor was later not elected to finish the term, see below.		 Bronson M. Cutting (R) December 29, 1927
Michigan
(1)		 Woodbridge N. Ferris (D) Died March 23, 1928.
Successor appointed March 31, 1928.
Successor was then elected November 6, 1928, to finish the term.		 Arthur H. Vandenberg (R) March 31, 1928
Ohio
(3)		 Frank B. Willis (R) Died March 30, 1928.
Successor appointed April 4, 1928.
Successor was later not elected to finish the term, see below.		 Cyrus Locher (D) April 4, 1928
Idaho
(3)		 Frank R. Gooding (R) Died June 24, 1928.
Successor was appointed to continue the term.
Successor was then elected November 6, 1928, to finish the term.		 John Thomas (R) June 30, 1928
New Mexico
(1)		 Bronson M. Cutting (R) Appointee did not run to finish the term.
Successor elected November 6, 1928.		 Octaviano A. Larrazolo (R) December 7, 1928
Ohio
(3)		 Cyrus Locher (D) Appointee lost nomination to finish term.
Successor elected November 6, 1928.		 Theodore E. Burton (R) December 15, 1928
Delaware
(2)		 T. Coleman du Pont (R) Resigned December 9, 1928.
Successor appointed December 10, 1928, to finish the term.		 Daniel O. Hastings (R) December 10, 1928

House of Representatives
  • Replacements: 15
    • Democratic: 1 seat net gain
    • Republican: 1 seat net loss
  • Deaths: 16
  • Resignations: 7
  • Total seats with changes: 23
District Vacated by Reason for vacancy Successor Date of successor's installation
Ohio 2nd Vacant Rep. Ambrose E. B. Stephens died during previous congress Charles Tatgenhorst Jr. (R) November 8, 1927
Louisiana 7th Ladislas Lazaro (D) Died March 30, 1927 René L. De Rouen (D) August 23, 1927
New York 35th Walter W. Magee (R) Died May 25, 1927 Clarence E. Hancock (R) November 8, 1927
Colorado 1st William N. Vaile (R) Died July 2, 1927 S. Harrison White (D) November 15, 1927
Oregon 3rd Maurice E. Crumpacker (R) Died July 24, 1927 Franklin F. Korell (R) October 18, 1927
Pennsylvania 1st James M. Hazlett (R) Resigned October 20, 1927 James M. Beck (R) November 8, 1927
Iowa 9th William R. Green (R) Resigned March 31, 1928, after being appointed to the United States Court of Claims Earl W. Vincent (R) June 4, 1928
Massachusetts 12th James A. Gallivan (D) Died April 3, 1928 John W. McCormack (D) November 6, 1928
Illinois 1st Martin B. Madden (R) Died April 27, 1928 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New York 32nd Thaddeus C. Sweet (R) Died May 1, 1928 Francis D. Culkin (R) November 6, 1928
Pennsylvania 8th Thomas S. Butler (R) Died May 26, 1928 James Wolfenden (R) November 6, 1928
Oregon 2nd Nicholas J. Sinnott (R) Resigned May 31, 1928, after being appointed to the United States Court of Claims Robert R. Butler (R) November 6, 1928
Illinois at-large Henry R. Rathbone (R) Died July 15, 1928 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Philippines at-large Isauro Gabaldon Resigned July 16, 1928, after being nominated for election to the Philippine House of Representatives Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Alabama 5th William B. Bowling (D) Resigned August 16, 1928, after being appointed judge of the 5th Judicial Circuit of Alabama LaFayette L. Patterson (D) November 6, 1928
Massachusetts 14th Louis A. Frothingham (R) Died August 23, 1928 Richard B. Wigglesworth (R) November 6, 1928
Missouri 16th Thomas L. Rubey (D) Died November 2, 1928 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Arkansas 2nd William Allan Oldfield (D) Died November 19, 1928 Pearl Peden Oldfield (D) January 9, 1929
Ohio 22nd Theodore E. Burton (R) Resigned December 15, 1928, after winning special election to the U.S. Senate Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New York 41st Clarence MacGregor (R) Resigned December 28, 1928, after being appointed to the New York Supreme Court Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Missouri 4th Charles L. Faust (R) Died December 17, 1928 David W. Hopkins (R) February 5, 1929
Illinois 15th Edward J. King (R) Died February 17, 1929 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New York 21st Royal H. Weller (D) Died March 1, 1929 Seat remained vacant until next Congress

Committees

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.

Joint committees

Caucuses

Officers

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes
  1. Frank L. Smith (R-IL) was elected to the Senate for the term starting March 4, 1927, but the Senate refused to qualify him due to charges of corruption concerning his election. He resigned February 9, 1928.[2]
  2. William S. Vare (R-PA) was elected to the Senate for the term starting March 4, 1927, but the Senate refused to qualify him due to charges of corruption and fraud concerning his election. In the next Congress, the Senate unseated him.[3]
  3. When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References
  1. Macmahon, Arthur W. (1929). "Second Session of the Seventieth Congress". American Political Science Review. 23 (2): 364–383. doi:10.2307/1945219. ISSN 0003-0554.
  2. "Bioguide Search".
  3. "Bioguide Search".
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
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