61st Congress (1909 - 1911)

House of Representatives

House Majority: Republican

House Majority Seats: 219 out of 391

House Speaker: Rep. Joseph Gurney Cannon (R-IL)

Senate

Senate Majority: Republican

Senate Majority Seats: 60 out of 92

Senate Majority Leader: (None)

Executive

President: William Howard Taft (R-OH)

Vice President: James S. Sherman (R-NY)

portrait

Member Spotlight

Featured: House Majority Leader Sereno E. Payne (R-NY) was a veteran legislator and the first to hold the formal position of majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. Born in 1843, he served in Congress for over three decades and became one of the Republican Party’s foremost experts on taxation and trade. As chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Payne coauthored the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909, a controversial measure that divided Republicans and fueled progressive opposition. Known for his steady leadership and deep knowledge of fiscal policy, he played a key role in shaping the party’s economic agenda during the early twentieth century.

Enactments