# 20th United States Congress

The 20th 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, 1827, to March 4, 1829, during the third and fourth years of John Quincy Adams's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1820 United States census. Both chambers had a Jacksonian majority.

## Major events

* December 3, 1828: U.S. presidential election, 1828: Challenger Andrew Jackson beat incumbent John Quincy Adams and was elected President of the United States

## Major legislation

* May 24, 1828: Tariff of Abominations, ch. 111, 4 Stat. 308

## Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

### Senate

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | National Republican (NR) | Jacksonian (J) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 23 | 25 | 48 | 0 |
| Begin | 20 | 27 | 47 | 1 |
| End | 21 | 26 | 47 | 1 |
| Final voting share | 44.7% | 55.3% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 22 | 26 | 48 | 0 |

### House of Representatives

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | National Republican (NR) | Jacksonian (J) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 111 | 102 | 0 | 213 | 0 |
| Begin | 99 | 113 | 0 | 212 | 1 |
| End | 99 | 113 | 0 | 212 | 1 |
| Final voting share | 46.7% | 53.3% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 71 | 136 | 4 | 211 | 2 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: John C. Calhoun (J)
* President pro tempore: Samuel Smith (J)

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Andrew Stevenson (J)

## Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class and members of the House are listed by district.
    Skip to House of Representatives, below

### 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 with this Congress, facing re-election in 1832; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1828; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1830.

### House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

## Changes in membership

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

### Senate

* Replacements: 6
** National Republican (NR): no net change
** Jacksonian (J): no net change
* Deaths: 0
* Resignations: 7
* Interim appointments: 0
* Total seats with changes: 8

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 9
** National Republican (NR): 1-seat net loss
** Jacksonian (J): 1-seat net gain
* Deaths: 5
* Resignations: 9
* Contested election: 1
* Total seats with changes: 15

## Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

### Senate

* Agriculture (Chairman: John Branch)
* Alabama Land Purchase (Select)
* Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Elias Kane)
* Claims (Chairman: Benjamin Ruggles)
* Commerce (Chairman: Levi Woodbury)
* Debt Imprisonment Abolition (Select)
* Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: John Eaton)
* Engrossed Bills (Chairman: William Marks)
* Finance (Chairman: Samuel Smith)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: Nathaniel Macon then Littleton Tazewell)
* French Spoilations (Select)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: Thomas Hart Benton then Hugh Lawson White)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Martin Van Buren then John M. Berrien)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Samuel Smith)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: William Henry Harrison then Thomas Hart Benton)
* Militia (Chairman: John Chandler)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Robert Y. Hayne)
* Pensions (Chairman: James Noble)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Richard M. Johnson)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: William Smith)
* Public Lands (Chairman: David Barton)
* Revolutionary Officers (Select)
* Roads and Canals (Select) (Chairman: William Hendricks)
* Tariff Regulation (Select)
* Vaccination (Select)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Accounts (Chairman: Samuel C. Allen)
* Agriculture (Chairman: Stephen Van Rensselaer)
* Assault on the President's Secretary (Select)
* American Colonization Society (Select)
* Claims (Chairman: Lewis Williams)
* Commerce (Chairman: Churchill C. Cambreleng)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Mark Alexander)
* Elections (Chairman: John Sloane)
* Ethics (Chairman: N/A)
* Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Peter Little)
* Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Gabriel Holmes)
* Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: John Blair)
* Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Thomas H. Hall)
* Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: Charles Eaton Haynes)
* Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Michael C. Sprigg)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Edward Everett)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: William McLean)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Philip P. Barbour)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Rollin C. Mallary)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: James Hamilton Jr.)
* Military Pensions (Chairman: Tristam Burges)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Michael Hoffman)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Samuel D. Ingham then Samuel McKean)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Richard Aylett Buckner)
* Public Expenditures (Chairman: Jeromus Johnson)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Jacob C. Isacks)
* Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Dutee J. Pearce)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: George Wolf)
* Rules (Select)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Territories (Chairman: James Strong)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: George McDuffie)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Enrolled Bills
* The Library
* To Prepare a Code of Laws for the District of Columbia

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: Charles Bulfinch
* Librarian of Congress: George Watterston

### Senate

* Chaplain: William Ryland (Methodist)
* Secretary: Walter Lowrie
* Sergeant at Arms: Mountjoy Bayly

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain: Reuben Post (Presbyterian)
* Clerk: Matthew St. Clair Clarke
* Doorkeeper: Benjamin Birch
* Reading Clerks: [data missing]
* Sergeant at Arms: John O. Dunn