Kings of the Hill (and the White House)

COVER STORY

President Trump is moving ahead with

For use with “Kings of the Hill (and the White House)”
his agenda, with help from a Republican-
controlled Congress. But the system that
the Framers designed gives the Democrats
in the minority some power of their own.

W
BY PATRICIA SMITH
hen American voters chose Republican Donald Trump as the 45th 

on p. 6 of the magazine
president in November, they also handed his party control of 
Congress. Republicans maintained a majority in the Senate, with 
52 seats to 48 for Democrats. In the House of Representatives, 
Republicans increased their majority to 241 to 194 for Democrats. 
But having one political party control the White House and Capitol Hill doesn’t 
mean it will be able to pass laws at will.
“The Framers designed a system with extra checks to protect the voices of 
the minority against what they called ‘the tyranny of the majority,’ ” says Costas 
Panagopoulos, a political scientist at Fordham University in New York.
To make matters more complicated, President Trump comes into office with an 
unclear mandate. He won the Electoral College decisively, 306 to 232, but he lost 
the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. It remains to be seen how forcefully 
Republicans in Congress will support his agenda and translate his proposals into 
law—and how hard Democrats will battle against Trump’s plans.
Here’s what you need to know to follow the action in Washington as Trump 
begins his four-year term.

What does control his priorities—like repealing Obamacare

of the White House and reducing taxes on business—are
and Congress mean? likely to move through Congress quickly.

CONTROL OF CONGRESS: 1945-PRESENT

It means Republicans will set the “They’re going to do big, hard things
agenda in Washington. President Trump right out of the gate,” says Douglas
will lay out his legislative priorities and Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice
work with Republicans in Congress to University in Texas.

get them passed. Because they’re in the
majority, Republicans control commit-
tees in Congress, which is where a lot
Will Democrats of important decisions about bills—
use the same tools to including whether they even get
block President Trump voted on—are made.
that Republicans used
In short, Republicans will have
MATT WUERKER © 2017 POLITICO. DIST. BY ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
Does that mean
Republicans can do
whatever they want?
Not necessarily. In the 435-member
House, legislation needs a simple
majority of votes to pass. But in

Who’s the Boss?

to block President
Obama? enormous sway over the lawmaking
process. And whatever bills Congress
approves are likely to be signed when
they reach the president’s desk.
That’s good news for Trump. Some of
the 100-member Senate, the fili-
buster rule means that 60 votes are
required for most bills to move ahead.
(A filibuster lets a single senator or group
of senators delay or block a vote by

Download: Congressional control over time at upfrontmagazine.com

6 UPFRONT • UPFRONTMAGAZINE.COM F E B RUA RY 20, 20 1 7 7

Since World War II, it’s been more common for control of the White House and at least one chamber of Congress
Uses: copy machine, opaque projector, or transparency master for overhead projector. Scholastic Inc. grants teacher-subscribers to The New York Times Upfront permission to reproduce this Skills Sheet for use in their classrooms. ©2017 by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.

to be split between Republicans and Democrats. Here’s a look back at which party has controlled what since 1945.

HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES (FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT, GEORGE W BUSH); BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES (HARRY S TRUMAN, GERALD FORD); AP PHOTO (JOHN F KENNEDY, JIMMY CARTER); OSCAR WHITE/CORBIS/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES (LYNDON B JOHNSON);
HARRY LANGDON/GETTY IMAGES (RONALD REAGAN); AFP/GETTY IMAGES (BILL CLINTON); UNIVERSALIMAGESGROUP/GETTY IMAGES (DWIGHT D EISENHOWER, RICHARD M NIXON, BARACK OBAMA); WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (GEORGE H W BUSH, DONALD TRUMP)
TERM OF CONTROL OF CONTROL OF TERM OF CONTROL OF CONTROL OF
CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE PRESIDENT CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE PRESIDENT
Franklin D. Roosevelt
79th 1945–’46 D D Truman (D)1
(D) 97th 1981–’82 D R
80th 1947–’48 R R 98th 1983–’84 D R Ronald
Harry S. Reagan
81st 1949–’50 D D Truman 99th 1985–’86 D R (R)
(D)
82nd 1951–’52 D D 100th 1987–’88 D D
83rd 1953–’54 R R 101st 1989–’90 D D George
H. W. Bush
84th 1955–’56 D D Dwight D. 102nd 1991–’92 D D (R)
Eisenhower
85th 1957–’58 D D (R) 103rd 1993–’94 D D
86th 1959–’60 D D 104th 1995–’96 R R Bill
John F. Kennedy Clinton
87th 1961–’62 D D (D)
105th 1997–’98 R R (D)

88th 1963–’64 D D Kennedy (D) 106th 1999–2000 R R

Johnson (D)2
89th 1965–’66 D D Lyndon B. 107th 2001–’02 R D4
Johnson
90th 1967–’68 D D (D) 108th 2003–’04 R R George
W. Bush
91st 1969–’70 D D Richard 109th 2005–’06 R R (R)
M. Nixon
92nd 1971–’72 D D (R) 110th 2007–’08 D D5
93rd 1973–’74 D D Nixon (R) D D
Ford (R)3 111th 2009–’10
94th 1975–’76 D D Gerald Ford 112th 2011–’12 R D
(R) Barack
Obama
95th 1977–’78 D D Jimmy 113th 2013–’14 R D (D)
Carter
96th 1979–’80 D D (D) 114th 2015–’16 R R
115th 2017–’18 R R Donald J. Trump
(R)
1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April 1945; Vice President Harry S. Truman became president.
2. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963; Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president.
3. President Richard M. Nixon resigned in 1974; Vice President Gerald Ford became president.
4. Republicans controlled the Senate until May 2001, when Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords left the party and became an independent, caucusing with the Democrats.
5. The Democrats held fewer than 50 Senate seats but had an operational majority because the two independent senators caucused with the Democrats for organizational purposes.

Questions
1. What patterns do you notice 2. How would you characterize 3. What does this historical chart
in the control of Congress and Congressional control under the add to your understanding
the White House? three presidents prior to Trump? of the article?

F E B RUA RY 20, 20 1 7 • U P F R O N T M AG A Z I N E .CO M • PA G E 1 O F 1