77th United States Congress

77th United States Congress
76th ←
→ 78th

January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943
Members96 senators
435 representatives
4 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityDemocratic
Senate PresidentJohn N. Garner (D)[a]
(until January 20, 1941)
Henry A. Wallace (D)
(from January 20, 1941)
House majorityDemocratic
House SpeakerSam Rayburn (D)
Sessions
1st: January 3, 1941 – January 2, 1942
2nd: January 5, 1942 – December 16, 1942

The 77th 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, 1941, to January 3, 1943, during the ninth and tenth years of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1930 United States census.

Both chambers maintained a Democratic majority - with the Senate being a supermajority. With the reelection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a then record third term, the Democrats maintained an overall federal government trifecta.

This was the first Congress to have more than one Senate president (John Garner and Henry Wallace) due to the passage of the 20th Amendment in 1933.

President Franklin Roosevelt signing the Lend-Lease Act, March 11, 1941.
President Roosevelt delivering the "Infamy Speech" to Congress, requesting a declaration of war, December 8, 1941. Behind him are Vice President Henry Wallace (left) and House Speaker Sam Rayburn. To the right, in uniform in front of Rayburn, is Roosevelt's son James, who escorted his father to the Capitol.
President Roosevelt signing the declaration of war against Japan, December 8, 1941


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