Every four years, on January 20 at noon, the President-elect is sworn in as President of the United States. Pursuant to the Constitution, the next presidential inauguration is set for Friday, January 20, 2017. Each year prior to an inauguration, Congres s authorizes the creation of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (Joint Inaugural Committee). The Joint Inaugural Committee is responsible for the planning and execution of the swearing-in ceremony and for hosting an inaugural luncheon for the President and Vice President at the U.S. Capitol. The 2017 Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies was authorized by the 114 th Congress (2015-2017) when S.Con.Res. 28 was agreed to on February 3, 2016. Pursuant to the concurrent resolution, the Joint Inaugural Committee consists of three Senators, appointed by the President of the Senate, and three Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House. The resolution further authorizes the committee "to make the necessary arrangements for the inauguration of the President-elect and the Vice President-elect of the United States." This report provides a history of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, including committee membership, staffing, and inaugural activities. In 1901, Congress established the first Joint Inaugural Committee for the inauguration of President William McKinley. Supervision of inaugural ceremonies prior to 1901 was conducted by the Senate. Sole responsibility for inaugural preparation and supervision had been a Senate function because of its standing as a continuing legislative body, while the House must organize anew at the beginning of each Congress. The relevance of this consideration was particularly evident during the times when the President was inaugurated on March 4, the same day a new Congress convened. There is no evidence indicating that the House seriously challenged this reasoning until 1901. The Senate and House first agreed on a joint resolution calling for the creation of a Joint Inaugural Committee "consisting of three Senators and three Representatives ... to make the necessary arrangements for the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States" in 1901. The resolution called for the members of the joint committee "to be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively." Most of the limited House debate favoring creation of a Joint Inaugural Committee was not primarily based on a desire to have the chamber become an equal partner in planning the ceremonies. Instead, the concern that triggered the initial discussion was a feeling among certain House Members that they had historically been discriminated against with regard to their seating at the rear of the inaugural platform. The issue was first raised in February 1885, when Representative Roger Q. Mills introduced a resolution proposing that the House "decline to take any part" in that year's inaugural ceremonies because the Senate committee appointed to arrange the inaugural ceremonies had declined to give House Members their proper place. Following a relatively short debate, the Mills resolution was rejected by a 185 to 55 margin. That year, nevertheless, the Speaker of the House appointed three Members of the House to cooperate with the Senate inaugural committee. The trio, however, had virtually no involvement in the ceremonies. On the eve of the next inaugural (1889), Representative Newton C. Blanchard revived the issue of what he called the "inferior position assigned the members of the House and to members-elect" at the inaugural ceremonies. Blanchard's resolution declared that the place assigned to "members of the House of Representatives and members-elect" at the inauguration of the President "should be equal and similar to that of members of the Senate." Look at the official program, he told his House colleagues, and you "will see that a place is assigned to the members of the Senate at least three degrees higher in honor and dignity than the place assigned to members of the House of Representatives." The Senate Inaugural Committee had also given Senators five tickets for the inaugural platform while providing Representatives with only two tickets. At the conclusion of Blanchard's remarks, the resolution was adopted, but at his suggestion was not communicated to the Senate: I did not think [it] proper to include in the resolution any direction that it should be communicated to the Senate. I considered it the proper and perhaps the more dignified course to simply assert the principle that the House of Representatives have a right to an equal share in these arrangements with the Senate, and to let that go on record as the judgment of the House, so that in the future, when arrangements are to be made for other inaugurations of Presidents, the Senate will take cognizance of the fact that this protest and this declaration of the principle involved and of the rights of the House was adopted by this House of Representatives. More than a decade would pass before the issue of House involvement in the inaugural ceremonies reemerged. When the question was revisited in 1901, a different strategy was used. Representative John Dalzell, who led the effort, focused on modifying the joint resolution appropriating funds for the inaugural ceremony. He proposed that when the House Appropriations Committee reported the funding resolution, which had originated in the Senate, it include language calling for an inaugural program adopted by a joint committee of the Senate and House, rather than just the Senate. The subsequently reported resolution stipulated that the Secretary of the Senate, as well as the Clerk of the House, were authorized to pay expenses associated with the inauguration of the President. The same day, Representative Henry H. Bingham introduced a resolution, which was immediately agreed to, authorizing the creation of a joint inaugural committee "consisting of three Senators and three Representatives, to be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House, respectively." Following conference committee deliberations on the funding resolution, the Senate agreed to appropriation language approved by the House as well as the House resolution calling for the creation of the first joint inaugural committee. On February 3, 2016, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies was authorized for the 2017 inauguration. S.Con.Res. 28 , the resolution creating the Joint Inaugural Committee, is identical, except for the date, to previous authorizing resolutions: SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF JOINT COMMITTEE. There is established a Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (in this resolution referred to as the "joint committee") consisting of 3 Senators and 3 Members of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively. The joint committee is authorized to make the necessary arrangements for the inauguration of the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States on January 20, 2017. SEC. 2. SUPPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE. The joint committee— (1) is authorized to utilize appropriate equipment and the services of appropriate personnel of departments and agencies of the Federal Government, under arrangements between the joint committee and the heads of those departments and agencies, in connection with the inaugural proceedings and ceremonies; and (2) may accept gifts and donations of goods and services to carry out its responsibilities. Since 1901, when the first Joint Inaugural Committee was authorized, membership on the committee has consisted of three Senators and three Members of the House of Representatives. Currently, appointments to the committee are made by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House respectively. Appointments are generally for the length of committee activities. For House committee members, however, reappointment is necessary because an intervening election occurs between initial appointment and the inaugural ceremony. The need to reappoint committee members does not generally apply to the Senate, unless a Senate committee member leaves the chamber in the intervening election. Senate membership on the Joint Inaugural Committee is appointed by the President of the Senate, pursuant to authority granted in the authorizing resolution. Past practice has been for the President of the Senate to appoint the chair and ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the Senate majority leader. For the 2017 inauguration, the President of the Senate appointed Senate Rules and Administration Committee chair Roy Blunt and the committee's Ranking Member Charles Schumer along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Table 1 lists all Senators on the Joint Inaugural Committee since 1901. House membership on the Joint Inaugural Committee is appointed by the Speaker of the House, pursuant to authority granted in the authorizing resolution. Past practice has been for the Speaker to appoint himself or herself, along with the House majority leader and minority leader. For the 2017 inauguration, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan appointed himself, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Table 2 lists the House Members on the Joint Inaugural Committee since 1901, including the reappointment or replacement of committee members in the following Congress, when necessary. From time to time, a House Member appointed to serve on the Joint Inaugural Committee has not been reelected or has resigned from the House leadership, retired, or died in office. In such an instance, the Speaker has appointed another Representative to the committee in his or her place. Traditionally, the Speaker replaces the departing committee member with his or her House leadership replacement. For example, during the 88 th Congress (1963-1964), Representative Charles A. Halleck served as the House minority leader. At the end of the 88 th Congress, Representative Halleck stepped down as minority leader and was replaced by Representative Gerald R. Ford. In January 1965, when Congress convened for the 89 th Congress (1965-1966), the Speaker reappointed the Joint Inaugural Committee, substituting Representative Ford for Representative Halleck. Although none of the measures establishing the Joint Inaugural Committee have specified a process for selecting the committee chair, a Senator has always presided over committee activities. Through the end of World War II, the Senate traditionally provided the chair for each joint committee.