page_title: 116th United States Congress
section_title: Major events
hierarchical_section_title: 116th United States Congress / Major events
caption_attribution_description: President Donald J. Trump delivers his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)
context_page_description: The 116th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and will end on January 3, 2021, during the third and fourth years of the Presidency of Donald Trump. Senators elected to regular terms in 2014 are finishing their terms in this Congress, and House seats were apportioned based on the 2010 Census.
  In the November 2018 midterm elections, the Democratic Party won a new majority in the House, while the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate. Consequently, this is the first split Congress since the 113th Congress of 2013–2015, and the first Republican Senate/Democratic House split since the 99th Congress of 1985–1987. This Congress is the youngest incoming class by mean age in the past three cycles and the most demographically diverse ever.
  On May 1, 2020, Justin Amash became the first member of Congress to represent a political party other than the Democrats or the Republicans since Rep. William Carney, who served as a Conservative before switching to the Republican Party in 1985.
context_section_description: December 22, 2018 – January 25, 2019: 2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown
  February 5, 2019: 2019 State of the Union Address was delayed from January 29 due to the partial government shutdown.
  February 15, 2019: President Trump declared a National Emergency Concerning the Southern Border of the United States.
  February 27, 2019: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
  March 24, 2019: Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019): U.S. Attorney general William Barr issued a summary letter of special counsel Robert Mueller's report to congress on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
  July 24, 2019: Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019): Special counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees.
  September 24, 2019: Impeachment of Donald Trump: House opened an Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump after a whistleblower alleged the President abused his power in a phone call with the President of Ukraine.
  December 13, 2019: Impeachment of Donald Trump: House Judiciary Committee approved two impeachment articles.
  December 18, 2019: Impeachment of Donald Trump: House impeached President Trump.
  January 16, 2020 – February 5, 2020: Impeachment of Donald Trump: Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
  February 4, 2020: 2020 State of the Union Address
  March 11, 2020 – present: COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  March 19, 2020 – present: 2020 Congressional insider trading scandal
  May 26, 2020 – present: Nationwide George Floyd protests
caption: 2019 State of the Union Address
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