The Fifty-fourth 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, 1895 to March 4, 1897, during the last two years of Grover Cleveland's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. The House had a Republican majority, and the Republicans were the largest party in the Senate.
May 21, 1896: Oil Pipe Line Act, ch. 212, 29 Stat. 127 (43 U.S.C. § 962 et seq.)
May 22, 1896: Condemned Cannon Act, 29 Stat. 133
May 28, 1896: United States Commissioners Act, 29 Stat. 184
June 1, 1896: Married Women's Rights Act (District of Columbia), 29 Stat. 193
June 6, 1896: Filled Cheese Act, 29 Stat. 253
January 13, 1897: Stock Reservoir Act, 29 Stat. 484, (43 U.S.C. § 952 et seq.)
March 2, 1897: Tea Importation Act, 29 Stat. 604, (21 U.S.C. § 41 et seq.)
January 4, 1896: Utah was admitted the 45th state.
This count 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.
President: Adlai E. Stevenson (D)
President pro tempore: William P. Frye (R)
Republican Conference Chairman: John Sherman
Democratic Caucus Chairman: Arthur P. Gorman
Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: Charles James Faulkner
Speaker: Thomas B. Reed (R)
Republican Conference Chairman: Charles H. Grosvenor
Democratic Caucus Chairman: David B. Culberson
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and Representatives are listed by district.
Skip to House of Representatives, below
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 re-election in 1898; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1896.
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Two seats were added when Utah was admitted and one seat was filled late.
There were 4 deaths, 2 resignations, 13 election challenges, 1 new seat, and 4 seats vacant from the previous Congress. Democrats had a 10-seat net loss; Republicans had a 12-seat net gain; and Populists had a 2-seat net gain.
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress (Select)
Agriculture and Forestry
Appropriations
Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
Canadian Relations
Census
Civil Service and Retrenchment
Claims
Coast Defenses
Commerce
Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia
Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
District of Columbia
Education and Labor
Engrossed Bills
Enrolled Bills
Epidemic Diseases
Establish a University in the United States (Select)
Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service
Finance
Fisheries
Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (Select)
Foreign Relations
Forest Reservations (Select)
Geological Survey (Select)
Immigration
Immigration and Naturalization
Indian Affairs
International Expositions (Select)
Interstate Commerce
Irrigation and Reclamation
Judiciary
Library
Manufactures
Military Affairs
Mines and Mining
Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Select)
National Banks (Select)
Naval Affairs
Nicaragua Canal (Select)
Pacific Railroads
Patents
Pensions
Post Office and Post Roads
Potomac River Front (Select)
Printing
Private Land Claims
Privileges and Elections
Public Buildings and Grounds
Public Health and National Quarantine
Public Lands
Railroads
Revision of the Laws
Revolutionary Claims
Rules
Tariff Regulation (Select)
Tennessee Centennial Exposition (Select)
Territories
Transportation and Sale of Meat Products (Select)
Transportation Routes to the Seaboard
Whole
Woman Suffrage (Select)
Accounts
Agriculture
Alcoholic Liquor Traffic
Appropriations
Banking and Currency
Claims
Coinage, Weights and Measures
Disposition of Executive Papers
District of Columbia
Education
Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in Congress
Elections
Enrolled Bills
Expenditures in the Agriculture Department
Expenditures in the Interior Department
Expenditures in the Justice Department
Expenditures in the Navy Department
Expenditures in the Post Office Department
Expenditures in the State Department
Expenditures in the Treasury Department
Expenditures in the War Department
Expenditures on Public Buildings
Foreign Affairs
Immigration and Naturalization
Irrigation of Arid Lands
Indian Affairs
Interstate and Foreign Commerce
Invalid Pensions
Labor
Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River
Manufactures
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Mileage
Military Affairs
Militia
Mines and Mining
Naval Affairs
Pacific Railroads
Patents
Pensions
Post Office and Post Roads
Public Buildings and Grounds
Public Lands
Railways and Canals
Reform in the Civil Service
Revision of Laws
Rivers and Harbors
Rules
Standards of Official Conduct
Ventilation and Acoustics
War Claims
Ways and Means
Whole
Alcohol in the Arts (Select)
Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
Investigate Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia
Ford's Theater Disaster
Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
Public Printer of the United States: Thomas E. Benedict
Chaplain: William H. Millburn (Methodist)
Secretary: William Ruffin Cox
Sergeant at Arms: Richard J. Bright
Chaplain: Henry N. Couden (Universalist)
Clerk: Alexander McDowell
Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: Asher C. Hinds
Doorkeeper: William J. Glenn
Postmaster: Joseph C. McElroy
Sergeant at Arms: Benjamin F. Russell
