51st United States Congress


The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar 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, 1889, to March 4, 1891, during the first two years of Benjamin Harrison's presidency.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1880 United States census.
The Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate, and won the majority in the House. With Benjamin Harrison being sworn in as president on March 4, 1889, this gave the Republicans an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 43rd Congress in 1873–1875.

Major events

Major legislation

It was responsible for a number of pieces of landmark legislation, many of which asserted the authority of the federal government.
Emboldened by their success in the elections of 1888, the Republicans enacted virtually their entire platform during their first 303-day session, including a measure that provided American Civil War veterans with generous pensions and expanded the list of eligible recipients to include noncombatants and the children of veterans. Grover Cleveland had vetoed a similar bill in 1887. It was criticized as the "Billion Dollar Congress'" for its lavish spending and, for this reason it incited drastic reversals in public support that led to Cleveland's reelection in 1892.
Other important legislation passed into law by the Congress included the McKinley tariff, authored by Representative, and future President, William McKinley; the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibited business combinations that restricted trade; and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required the U.S. government to mint silver. The last two were concessions to Western farmer interests in exchange for support of the tariff and would become central tenets of the Populist Party later in the decade. They were authored by Senator John Sherman.
The Fifty-first Congress was also responsible for passing the Land Revision Act of 1891, which created the national forests. Harrison authorized America's first forest reserve in Yellowstone, Wyoming, the same year.
Other bills were discussed but failed to pass, including two significant pieces of legislation focused on ensuring African Americans the right to vote. Henry Cabot Lodge sponsored a so-called Lodge Bill that would have established federal supervision of Congressional elections so as to prevent the disfranchisement of southern blacks. Henry W. Blair sponsored the Blair Education Bill, which advocated the use of federal aid for education in order to frustrate southern whites employing literacy tests to prevent blacks from registering to vote.

States admitted and territories organized

Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of this Congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Six new states were admitted during this Congress, and their senators and representatives were elected throughout the Congress.

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.

Senate

Senators were elected by the state legislatures 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 began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1892; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1894; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1890.

Georgia">List of United States senators from Georgia">Georgia


Maine">List of United States senators from Maine">Maine


Nebraska">List of United States senators from Nebraska">Nebraska


Oregon">List of United States senators from Oregon">Oregon


Virginia">List of United States senators from Virginia">Virginia


House of Representatives

The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Georgia">List of United States representatives from Georgia">Georgia


Maine">List of United States representatives from Maine">Maine


Nebraska">List of United States representatives from Nebraska">Nebraska


Oregon">List of United States representatives from Oregon">Oregon


South Dakota">List of United States representatives from South Dakota">South Dakota

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

Wyoming">List of United States representatives from Wyoming">Wyoming


Changes in membership

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

Senate

  • Replacements: 3
  • * Democratic: no net change
  • * Republican: no net change
  • * Liberal Republican: 1-seat net loss
  • Deaths: 3
  • Resignations: 2
  • Interim appointments: 1
  • Seats of newly admitted states: 12
  • '''Total seats with changes: 17'''

House of Representatives

  • Replacements: 16
  • * Democratic: 2-seat net gain
  • * Republican: 2-seat net loss
  • Deaths: 11
  • Resignations: 6
  • Contested election:8
  • Seats of newly admitted states: 7
  • '''Total seats with changes: 33'''

Committees

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States">Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives