This is a complete list of United States representatives during the 63rd United States Congress listed by seniority. For the most part, representatives are ranked by the beginning of their terms in office.Delegates are non-voting members and representatives are voting members of the United States House of Representatives.
As an historical article, the districts and party affiliations listed reflect those during the 63rd Congress (March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915). Seats and party affiliations on similar lists for other congresses will be different for certain members.
This article describes the criteria for seniority in the House of Representatives and sets out the list of members by seniority. It is prepared on the basis of the interpretation of seniority applied to the House of Representatives in the current congress. In the absence of information to the contrary, it is presumed that the twenty-first-century practice is identical to the seniority customs used during the 63rd Congress.
Seniority
House seniority Seniority in the House, for representatives with unbroken service, depends on the date on which the members first term began. That date is either the start of the Congress (4 March in odd numbered years, for the era up to and including the 73rd Congress starting in 1933) or the date of a special election during the Congress. Since many members start serving on the same day as others, ranking between them is based on alphabetical order by the last name of the representative.
Representatives who return to the House, after having previously served, are credited with service equal to one less than the total number of terms they served. When a representative has served a prior term of less than two terms (i.e., prior term minus one equals less than one), he is ranked above all others whose service begins on the same day.
Committee seniority Until 1910, House committee members and chairmen were selected by the Speaker, who also ranked the members of the committee. Seniority on the committee was just one of the factors that was taken into account in ranking the members. In the 61st Congress, Speaker Cannon (R-IL) had used his power to change committee assignments to demote and punish insurgent Republicans. In March 1910 the Speaker was stripped of his powers over the composition of standing committees.
As a result of the events of 1910, at the start of the 63rd Congress in 1913, the committee assignments were made by each party and then formally approved by the whole House. Each party controlled the committee ranking of its members, but usually this followed the order of seniority of members in terms of service on the committee. It became customary for members of a committee, in the previous congress, to be re-appointed at the start of the next.
A seniority rule was normally used to decide committee chairmen, similar to that which the Senate had usually followed since 1846. The chairman was likely to be the majority member of a committee, with the longest continuous service on it. However, party leadership was typically not associated with seniority.Congress at the Crossroads, pp. 186-189 and see Cannon's Precedents, Volume VIII (8), Chapter CCXXXIV (234) for the rules and precedents applied by the House after 1910
Out of the group of fifty three standing committee chairmen, at the start of this Congress, Nelson Polsby identified thirty three as the most senior member of the majority on the committee. In the other twenty cases, thirteen senior majority members were compensated for not being chairman of the committee (seven chaired another committee and six received better committee assignments than in the previous Congress). Thus only in seven instances was the seniority custom violated, without obvious compensation for the representative passed over.Nelson W. Polsby, "The Growth of the Seniority System in the U.S. House of Representatives" American Political Science Review 63.3 (1970):787-807
Committees This list refers to the standing committees of the House in the 63rd Congress, the year of establishment as a standing committee (adoption of the name used in 1913), the number of members assigned to the committee and the corresponding committee in the current congress. Because of consolidation of committees and changes of jurisdiction, it is not always possible to identify a clear successor panel.Based on Rule X Organisation of Committees, in the House Rules and Manual for the 111th Congress. For membership, see section 2183 of Cannon's Precedents Volume VIII (8), Chapter CCXXXIV (234). For establishment of standing committees see
No.1913 committeeEstablishedMembers2011 committee1Accounts180511House Administration2Agriculture182021Agriculture3Alcoholic Liquor Traffic189311Judiciary4Appropriations186521Appropriations5Banking and Currency186521Financial Services6Census190116Oversight and Government Reform7Claims179416Judiciary8Coinage, Weights and Measures1864 (1867)18Financial Services9Disposition of Executive Papers19112House Administration10District of Columbia180821Oversight and Government Reform11Education1867 (1883)15Education and the Workforce12Election of President, Vice President and Representatives189313House Administration13Elections No. 11789 (1895)9House Administration14Elections No. 218959House Administration15Elections No. 318959House Administration16Enrolled Bills18767House Administration17Expenditures in the Agriculture Department18897Oversight and Government Reform18Expenditures in the Interior Department18607Oversight and Government Reform19Expenditures in the Justice Department18747Oversight and Government Reform20Expenditures in the Navy Department18167Oversight and Government Reform21Expenditures in the Post Office Department18167Oversight and Government Reform22Expenditures in the State Department18167Oversight and Government Reform23Expenditures in the Treasury Department18167Oversight and Government Reform24Expenditures in the War Department18167Oversight and Government Reform25Expenditures on Public Buildings18167Oversight and Government Reform26Foreign Affairs182221Foreign Affairs27Immigration and Naturalization189315Judiciary28Indian Affairs182121Natural Resources29Industrial Arts and Expositions190316Foreign Affairs30Insular Affairs189921Natural Resources31Interstate and Foreign Commerce1795 (1892)21Energy and Commerce32Invalid Pensions183116Veterans' Affairs33Irrigation of Arid Lands189315Natural Resources34Judiciary181321Judiciary35Labor188313Education and the Workforce36Merchant Marine and Fisheries188721...37Mileage18375House Administration38Military Affairs182221Armed Services39Mines and Mining186514Natural Resources40Naval Affairs182221Armed Services41Patents183714Judiciary42Pensions188015Veterans' Affairs43Post Office and Post Roads180821Oversight and Government Reform44Public Buildings and Grounds183719Transportation and Infrastructure45Public Lands180521Natural Resources46Railways and Canals1831 (1869)14Transportation and Infrastructure47Reform in the Civil Service189313Oversight and Government Reform48Revision of Laws186813Judiciary49Rivers and Harbors188321Transportation and Infrastructure50Rules188011Rules51Territories182516Natural Resources52War Claims1825 (1873)15Judiciary53Ways and Means180221Ways and Means Joint Committees (House standing committee members only)Jt 1Library Joint18065House AdministrationJt 2Printing Joint18463House Administration New standing committees, established during the 63rd Congress54Expenditures in the Commerce Department1903 (1913)7Oversight and Government Reform55Expenditures in the Labor Department19137Oversight and Government Reform56Roads191321Transportation and Infrastructure
List of representatives by seniority A numerical rank is assigned to each of the 435 members initially elected to the 63rd Congress. Other members, who joined the House during the Congress, are not assigned a number.
Three representatives-elect were not sworn in; of whom one died before the Congress started, one resigned to become a U.S. Senator and one was too ill to take his seat (before dying during the Congress). The list below includes the representatives-elect (with names in italics), with the seniority they would have held if they had been able to be sworn in.
Major party designations used in this article are D for Democratic members and R for Republican representatives. Other designations include Ind for Independent and Prog for Progressive.