Deaths in the United States Congress
Critical Analysis
According to the data form the chart, what year saw did the highest percentage of the U.S. Congress die in office?
According to the data from the chart above, how many members of Congress died in 2020?
On average, 10 lawmakers have died in each two-year Congress: seven House members and three senators. Deaths peaked in the 1940s, and have slowed in recent decades. But every Congress except two has lost at least one member. If recent trends hold true. How many members of the 117th Congress will likely die in office?
The average age of a sitting senator is 64, and for a representative it’s 58, making this Congress one of the oldest. How might the average age of Congress impact the number of congressional deaths?
The current breakdown of party membership in the US House of Representatives is 222 Democrats and 212 Republicans (with one resignation). In the House this term, deaths have already affected the parties’ close margins. Three members — Ron Wright of Texas and Representative-elect Luke Letlow of Louisiana, both Republicans; and the Democrat Alcee Hastings of Florida — have died, the most in a Congress in its first three months since the early 1980s. (Mr. Wright and Mr. Letlow died from Covid-19.) How many changes in party membership would flip the majority of the House?
The current breakdown of party membership in the US Senate is 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans (with the Democratic Vice President - who is also the president of the Senate - and is also the only member of more than one branch of government- breaking the tie and giving the Democrats the majority). Health problems have also dogged the Senate. Patrick Leahy, 81, Democrat of Vermont, was briefly hospitalized in January. Thom Tillis, 60, a North Carolina Republican, underwent cancer treatment. Questions have been raised about the health of Dianne Feinstein, 87, a Democrat who has represented California since 1992. Vermont’s other senator, Bernie Sanders, 79, had a heart attack in 2019. How many changes in party membership would flip the majority of the Senate?
House vacancies are filled by special election, and relatively few seats are competitive, lowering the chances that deaths could alter partisan control. No special election to Congress so far this year has flipped a seat. Several states require governors to fill vacancies with a temporary replacement of the same political party as the departed senator. But nine senators in the Democratic caucus represent states with Republican governors who can appoint anyone they choose. That could let a Republican governor name a Republican replacement, giving Republicans the majority, even if it may be temporary. If you were a Republican governor who had the option to appoint anyone they wished to fill the Senate seat what party would you choose to fill the seat?
In the 1930 midterm elections, Republicans narrowly won the House. But a combined 14 representatives-elect in the two parties died before Congress convened 13 months later, and growing discontent over the Depression helped Democrats flip enough seats to claim a majority. Imagine the House majority or Senate majority suddenly shifted. How would that impact the Biden presidency?
Explain how the concept of federalism is illustrated by the issue of filling senatorial vacancies.
The most significant recent death of an officeholder was probably the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Who picks the replacement of the Supreme Court, and how has Ginsberg’s death reshaped American politics already?
Learning Extension
Read the Upshot story of death in Congress.
Action Extension
Find out what the rules of Senatorial replacement are in your state and drop your knowledge on class.
Visual Extension
Our searchable archive of over 1000 lessons to build U.S. government and politics content knowledge and skills. Cancel at any time. Use promo code SIGNMEUP at checkout to get the first month of our monthly subscription for free!
