List of members of the United States Congress by longevity of service

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This is a list of United States congresspersons by longevity of service. It includes those Representatives and Senators who have served at least 36 years. It is divided up into several categories.

In cases where there is a tie in time the following criteria will sort people higher:

Achieved time uninterrupted (total tenure rank only)
Achieved time first
Senators over representatives (House and Senate list only)
Senate or House seniority (Dan Rostenkowski versus Neal Edward Smith)

1 Key
2 Combined House and Senate time
3 Senate time
4 House time
5 See also
6 References

Key[edit]

In gold	Currently serving
H	Served in House (only for House and Senate combined categories)
S	Served in Senate (only for House and Senate combined categories)
I	Interruptions in service (only for total tenure categories)

Combined House and Senate time[edit]

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted rank	Name	Party affiliation	Total tenure	Uninterrupted tenure	Reason for leaving
1	1	John Dingell (H)	Democratic	59 years, 21 days	59 years, 21 days	Retired
2	2	Robert Byrd (H,S)	Democratic	57 years, 176 days	57 years, 176 days	Died
3	3	Carl Hayden (H,S)	Democratic	56 years, 319 days	56 years, 319 days	Retired
4	4	Daniel Inouye (H,S)	Democratic	53 years, 118 days	53 years, 118 days	Died
5	5	Jamie L. Whitten (H)	Democratic	53 years, 60 days	53 years, 60 days	Retired
6	6	John Conyers (H)	Democratic	7009164747520000000♠52 years, 75 days	7009164747520000000♠52 years, 75 days
7	7	Carl Vinson (H)	Democratic	50 years, 61 days	50 years, 61 days	Retired
8	8	Emanuel Celler (H)	Democratic	49 years, 305 days	49 years, 305 days	Lost renomination
9	9	Sam Rayburn (H)	Democratic	48 years, 257 days	48 years, 257 days	Died
10	999	Sidney R. Yates (H,I)	Democratic	48 years, 0 days	n/a	Retired
11	12	Strom Thurmond (S,I)	Democratic, later Republican	47 years, 159 days	46 years, 57 days	Retired
12	10	Wright Patman (H)	Democratic	47 years, 3 days	47 years, 3 days	Died
13	11	Ted Kennedy (S)	Democratic	46 years, 292 days	46 years, 292 days	Died
14	13	Charles Rangel (H)	Democratic	46 years, 0 days	46 years, 0 days	Retired
15	999	Joseph Gurney Cannon (H,I)	Republican	46 years, 0 days	n/a	Retired
16	14	Adolph J. Sabath (H)	Democratic	45 years, 247 days	45 years, 247 days	Died
17	15	J. Lister Hill (H,S)	Democratic	45 years, 142 days	45 years, 142 days	Retired
18	16	Thad Cochran (H,S)	Republican	7009139501440000000♠44 years, 75 days	7009139501440000000♠44 years, 75 days
19	17	Don Young (H)	Republican	7009138965760000000♠44 years, 13 days	7009138965760000000♠44 years, 13 days
20	18	George H. Mahon (H)	Democratic	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days	Retired
21	19	Warren Magnuson (H,S)	Democratic	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days	Defeated
22	20	Charles Edward Bennett (H)	Democratic	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days	Retired
23	21	Justin Smith Morrill (H,S)	Whig, later Republican	43 years, 299 days	43 years, 299 days	Died
24	999	William B. Allison (H,S,I)	Republican	43 years, 152 days	n/a	Died
25	22	Charles Melvin Price (H)	Democratic	43 years, 110 days	43 years, 110 days	Died
26	23	Bill Young (H)	Republican	42 years, 288 days	42 years, 288 days	Died
27	24	Henry M. Jackson (H,S)	Democratic	42 years, 241 days	42 years, 241 days	Died
28	999	Carter Glass (H,S,I)	Democratic	42 years, 157 days	n/a	Died
29	25	Patrick Leahy (S)	Democratic	7009133189920000000♠42 years, 75 days	7009133189920000000♠42 years, 75 days
30	26	Chuck Grassley (H,S)	Republican	7009133189920000000♠42 years, 75 days	7009133189920000000♠42 years, 75 days
31	27	John William McCormack (H)	Democratic	42 years, 58 days	42 years, 58 days	Retired
32	28	John Sparkman (H,S)	Democratic	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days	Retired
33	29	William R. Poage (H)	Democratic	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days	Retired
34	30	Jack Brooks (H)	Democratic	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days	Defeated
35	31	Robert L. Doughton (H)	Democratic	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days	Retired
36	32	Joseph William Martin, Jr. (H)	Republican	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days	Lost renomination
37	33	Dave Obey (H)	Democratic	41 years, 276 days	41 years, 276 days	Retired
38	34	Clarence Cannon (H)	Democratic	41 years, 69 days	41 years, 69 days	Retired
39	35	John C. Stennis (S)	Democratic	41 years, 59 days	41 years, 59 days	Retired
40	36	Kenneth McKellar (H,S)	Democratic	41 years, 30 days	41 years, 30 days	Lost renomination
41	37	William Huston Natcher (H)	Democratic	40 years, 240 days	40 years, 240 days	Died
42	999	Claude Pepper (H,S,I)	Democratic	40 years, 207 days	n/a	Died
43	38	William P. Frye (H,S)	Republican	40 years, 157 days	40 years, 157 days	Died
44	39	Ed Markey (H,S)	Democratic	7009127414080000000♠40 years, 137 days	7009127414080000000♠40 years, 137 days
45	40	Orrin Hatch (S)	Republican	7009126878400000000♠40 years, 75 days	7009126878400000000♠40 years, 75 days
46	41	Ted Stevens (S)	Republican	40 years, 10 days	40 years, 10 days	Defeated
47	42	Carl Curtis (H,S)	Republican	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
48	43	Peter W. Rodino (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
49	44	Pete Stark (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Defeated
50	45	Tom Harkin (H,S)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
51	46	George Miller (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
52	47	Henry Waxman (H)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
53	48	Barbara Mikulski (H,S)	Democratic	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days	Retired
54	999	Jennings Randolph (H,S,I)	Democratic	39 years, 364 days	n/a	Retired
55	999	Eugene Hale (H,S,I)	Republican	39 years, 363 days	n/a	Retired
56	49	Leslie C. Arends (H)	Republican	39 years, 362 days	39 years, 362 days	Retired
57	50	Daniel A. Reed (H)	Republican	39 years, 352 days	39 years, 352 days	Died
58	51	George William Norris (H,S)	Republican, later Independent	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days	Defeated
59	52	John Taber (H)	Republican	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days	Retired
60	53	William M. Colmer (H)	Democratic	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days	Retired
61	54	Max Baucus (H,S)	Democratic	39 years, 34 days	39 years, 34 days	Appointed Ambassador to China
62	999	Samuel Smith (H,S,I)	Democratic-Republican, later Democratic	39 years, 9 days	n/a	Retired
63	999	John Little McClellan (H,S,I)	Democratic	38 years, 329 days	n/a	Died
64	55	Morris Sheppard (H,S)	Democratic	38 years, 145 days	38 years, 145 days	Died
65	56	Richard Shelby (H,S)	Democratic, later Republican	7009120566880000000♠38 years, 75 days	7009120566880000000♠38 years, 75 days
66	57	Jim Sensenbrenner (H)	Republican	7009120566880000000♠38 years, 75 days	7009120566880000000♠38 years, 75 days
67	58	Ernest Hollings (S)	Democratic	38 years, 55 days	38 years, 55 days	Retired
68	59	Richard Russell, Jr. (S)	Democratic	38 years, 9 days	38 years, 9 days	Died
69	999	John Sherman (H,S,I)	Oppositionist, later Republican	38 years, 4 days	n/a	Appointed Secretary of the Treasury & Appointed Secretary of State
79	60	Russell B. Long (S)	Democratic	38 years, 3 days	38 years, 3 days	Retired
71	61	Frederick H. Gillett (H,S)	Republican	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
72	62	Wilbur Mills (H)	Democratic	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
73	63	Dante Fascell (H)	Democratic	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
74	64	Robert H. Michel (H)	Republican	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Retired
75	65	Nick Rahall (H)	Democratic	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days	Defeated
76	999	Robert Crosser (H,I)	Democratic	37 years, 305 days	n/a	Lost renomination
77	999	Robert L. F. Sikes (H,I)	Democratic	37 years, 290 days	n/a	Retired
78	66	Nathaniel Macon (H,S)	Anti-Administration, later Democratic-Republican	37 years, 255 days	37 years, 255 days	Resigned
79	67	Henry Cabot Lodge (H,S)	Republican	37 years, 250 days	37 years, 250 days	Died
80	999	Alben W. Barkley (H,S,I)	Democratic	37 years, 74 days	n/a	Elected Vice President & Died
81	68	Henry B. Gonzalez (H)	Democratic	37 years, 60 days	37 years, 60 days	Retired
82	999	Francis E. Warren (S,I)	Republican	37 years, 6 days	n/a	Died
83	999	James Eastland (S,I)	Democratic	36 years, 83 days	n/a	Resigned
84	69	Ron Wyden (H,S)	Democratic	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
85	70	Pat Roberts (H,S)	Republican	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
86	71	Chuck Schumer (H,S)	Democratic	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
87	72	Hal Rogers (H)	Republican	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
88	73	Chris Smith (H)	Republican	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
89	74	Joe Biden (S)	Democratic	36 years, 12 days	36 years, 12 days	Elected Vice President
90	75	John Murtha (H)	Democratic	36 years, 3 days	36 years, 3 days	Died
91	76	Henry L. Dawes (H,S)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
92	77	Felix Edward Hébert (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
93	78	Edward Boland (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
94	79	William Broomfield (H)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
95	80	Dan Rostenkowski (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Defeated
96	81	Neal Edward Smith (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Defeated
97	82	Claiborne Pell (S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
98	83	Joseph M. McDade (H)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
99	84	Paul Sarbanes (H,S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
100	85	Pete Domenici (S)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
101	86	Ralph Regula (H)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
102	87	Chris Dodd (H,S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
103	88	Jim Oberstar (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Defeated
104	89	Richard Lugar (S)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Lost renomination
105	90	Daniel Akaka (H,S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
106	91	Norm Dicks (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
107	92	Dale Kildee (H)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
108	93	Carl Levin (S)	Democratic	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days	Retired
109	999	Shelby Moore Cullom (H,S,I)	Republican	36 years, 0 days	n/a	Retired

Senate time[edit]

The 90th Congress was notable because for a period of 10 days (December 24, 1968 – January 3, 1969), it contained within its Senate all 10 of the longest-serving senators in history until January 7, 2013, when Patrick Leahy surpassed Russell B. Long as the 10th longest-serving senator in history. This period stretched from the installation of Ted Stevens of Alaska after his appointment to fill a vacancy to the retirement of Carl Hayden of Arizona early the next year.

The 96th Congress and 97th Congress were the periods in which most people from this list were serving together (all but Hayden, Russell Jr., Warren, Eastland, and Grassley in the former and all but Hayden, Russell Jr., Warren, Eastland, and Magnuson in the latter).

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted rank	Name	State represented	Dates of service	Total tenure	Uninterrupted tenure
1	1	Robert Byrd	West Virginia	January 3, 1959 – June 28, 2010	51 years, 176 days	51 years, 176 days
2	2	Daniel Inouye	Hawaii	January 3, 1963 – December 17, 2012	49 years, 349 days	49 years, 349 days
3	4	Strom Thurmond (I)	South Carolina	December 24, 1954 – April 7, 1956 November 7, 1956 – January 3, 2003	47 years, 159 days	46 years, 57 days
4	3	Ted Kennedy	Massachusetts	November 7, 1962 – August 25, 2009	46 years, 292 days	46 years, 292 days
5	5	Patrick Leahy	Vermont	Since January 3, 1975	7009133189920000000♠42 years, 75 days	7009133189920000000♠42 years, 75 days
6	6	Carl Hayden	Arizona	March 4, 1927 – January 3, 1969	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
7	7	John C. Stennis	Mississippi	November 7, 1947 – January 3, 1989	41 years, 59 days	41 years, 59 days
8	8	Orrin Hatch	Utah	Since January 3, 1977	7009126878400000000♠40 years, 75 days	7009126878400000000♠40 years, 75 days
9	9	Ted Stevens	Alaska	December 24, 1968 – January 3, 2009	40 years, 10 days	40 years, 10 days
10	10	Thad Cochran	Mississippi	Since December 27, 1978	7009120627360000000♠38 years, 82 days	7009120627360000000♠38 years, 82 days
11	11	Ernest Hollings	South Carolina	November 8, 1966 – January 3, 2005	38 years, 55 days	38 years, 55 days
12	12	Richard Russell, Jr.	Georgia	January 12, 1933 – January 21, 1971	38 years, 9 days	38 years, 9 days
13	13	Russell B. Long	Louisiana	December 31, 1948 – January 3, 1987	38 years, 3 days	38 years, 3 days
14	999	Francis E. Warren (I)	Wyoming	November 18, 1890 – March 4, 1893 March 4, 1895 – November 24, 1929	37 years, 6 days	n/a
15	999	James Eastland (I)	Mississippi	June 30 – September 28, 1941 January 3, 1943 – December 27, 1978	36 years, 83 days	n/a
16	14	Chuck Grassley	Iowa	Since January 3, 1981	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
17	15	Warren Magnuson	Washington	December 14, 1944 – January 3, 1981	36 years, 20 days	36 years, 20 days
18	16	Joe Biden	Delaware	January 3, 1973 – January 15, 2009	36 years, 12 days	36 years, 12 days
19	17	Claiborne Pell	Rhode Island	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1997	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
20	18	Pete Domenici	New Mexico	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 2009	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
21	19	Richard Lugar	Indiana	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 2013	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
22	20	Carl Levin	Michigan	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 2015	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days

House time[edit]

Total tenure rank	Uninterrupted rank	Name	Total tenure	Uninterrupted tenure
1	1	John Dingell	59 years, 21 days	59 years, 21 days
2	2	Jamie L. Whitten	53 years, 60 days	53 years, 60 days
3	3	John Conyers	7009164747520000000♠52 years, 75 days	7009164747520000000♠52 years, 75 days
4	4	Carl Vinson	50 years, 61 days	50 years, 61 days
5	5	Emanuel Celler	49 years, 305 days	49 years, 305 days
6	6	Sam Rayburn	48 years, 257 days	48 years, 257 days
7	999	Sidney R. Yates (I)	48 years, 0 days	n/a
8	7	Wright Patman	47 years, 3 days	47 years, 3 days
9	8	Charles Rangel	46 years, 0 days	46 years, 0 days
10	999	Joseph Gurney Cannon (I)	46 years, 0 days	n/a
11	9	Adolph J. Sabath	45 years, 247 days	45 years, 247 days
12	10	Don Young	7009138965760000000♠44 years, 13 days	7009138965760000000♠44 years, 13 days
13	11	George H. Mahon	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
14	12	Charles Edward Bennett	44 years, 0 days	44 years, 0 days
15	13	Charles Melvin Price	43 years, 110 days	43 years, 110 days
16	14	Bill Young	42 years, 288 days	42 years, 288 days
17	15	John William McCormack	42 years, 58 days	42 years, 58 days
18	16	William R. Poage	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
19	17	Jack Brooks	42 years, 0 days	42 years, 0 days
20	18	Robert L. Doughton	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
21	19	Joseph William Martin, Jr.	41 years, 305 days	41 years, 305 days
22	20	Dave Obey	41 years, 276 days	41 years, 276 days
23	21	Clarence Cannon	41 years, 69 days	41 years, 69 days
24	22	William Huston Natcher	40 years, 240 days	40 years, 240 days
25	23	Peter W. Rodino	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
26	24	Pete Stark	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
27	25	George Miller	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
28	26	Henry Waxman	40 years, 0 days	40 years, 0 days
29	27	Leslie C. Arends	39 years, 362 days	39 years, 362 days
30	28	Daniel A. Reed	39 years, 352 days	39 years, 352 days
31	29	John Taber	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
32	30	William M. Colmer	39 years, 305 days	39 years, 305 days
33	31	Jim Sensenbrenner	7009120566880000000♠38 years, 75 days	7009120566880000000♠38 years, 75 days
34	32	Wilbur Mills	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
35	33	Dante Fascell	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
36	34	Robert H. Michel	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
37	35	Nick Rahall	38 years, 0 days	38 years, 0 days
38	999	Robert Crosser (I)	37 years, 305 days	n/a
39	999	Robert L. F. Sikes (I)	37 years, 290 days	n/a
40	36	Henry B. Gonzalez	37 years, 60 days	37 years, 60 days
41	37	Ed Markey	36 years, 256 days	36 years, 256 days
42	38	Hal Rogers	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
43	39	Chris Smith	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days	7009114255360000000♠36 years, 75 days
44	40	John Murtha	36 years, 3 days	36 years, 3 days
45	41	Felix Edward Hébert	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
46	42	Edward Boland	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
47	43	William Broomfield	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
48	44	Dan Rostenkowski	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
49	45	Neal Edward Smith	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
50	46	Joseph M. McDade	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
51	47	Ralph Regula	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
52	48	Jim Oberstar	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
53	49	Norm Dicks	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days
54	50	Dale Kildee	36 years, 0 days	36 years, 0 days

References[edit]

Members Who Have Served in the U.S. Congress 30 Years or More

United States Congress

Members and leaders

Members

Current	By length of service Freshmen Youngest members Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Delegates Longest-serving members ever

Senate	Current by seniority Dean of the Senate Former senators Living Earliest serving Earliest living Expelled or censured Classes Born outside the U.S.

House	Current by seniority Dean of the House Former representatives Living Oldest living Earliest serving Expelled, censured, and reprimanded

Leaders

Senate	President (list) President pro tempore (list) Majority and minority leaders Assistant party leaders Democratic Caucus (Chair Secretary Policy Committee Chair) Republican Conference (Chair Vice-Chair Policy Committee Chair)

House	Speaker Leaders Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group Democratic Caucus Republican Conference

Districts

Caucuses,
women and
minorities

Powers, privileges, procedure, committees, history, and media

Powers	Article I Copyright Commerce (Dormant) Contempt of Congress Declaration of war Impeachment Naturalization "Necessary and Proper" Power of enforcement Taxing/spending

Privileges and benefits	Salaries Franking Immunity

Procedure	Act of Congress (list) Appropriation bill Blue slip Budget resolution Censure Closed sessions House Senate Cloture Concurrent resolution Continuing resolution Dear colleague letter Discharge petition Engrossed bill Enrolled bill Expulsion Joint resolution Joint session (list) Lame-duck session Majority of the majority (Hastert Rule) Multiple referral Procedures (House) Quorum call Reconciliation Rider Saxbe fix Sponsorship Suspension of the rules Unanimous consent Veto Line-item veto Pocket veto Veto override

Senate-specific	Advice and consent Classes Executive communication Executive session Filibuster Jefferson's Manual Senate Journal Morning business Nuclear option Presiding Officer Recess appointment Reconciliation Riddick's Senate Procedure Senate hold Senatorial courtesy Seniority Standing Rules Tie-breaking votes Traditions Treaty Clause

Committees	Chairman and ranking member Of the Whole Conference Discharge petition Hearings Markup Oversight List (Joint) List (House) List (Senate) Select and special Standing Subcommittees

Items	Gavels Mace of the House Seal of the Senate

History	Biographical Directory Divided government House Gerrymandering Party control Senate Senate election disputes Senatorial memoirs Representative memoirs

Media	C-SPAN Congressional Quarterly The Hill Politico Roll Call

Offices, employees, services, and the Capitol Complex

Legislative
offices

Offices

Senate	Curator Historical Library

House	Congressional Ethics Emergency Planning, Preparedness, and Operations Interparliamentary Affairs Legislative Counsel Law Revision Counsel Library

Employees

Senate	Secretary Chaplain Curator Inspector General Historian Librarian Pages Parliamentarian Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper

House	Chaplain Chief Administrative Officer Clerk Doorkeeper Floor Operations Floor Services Chief Historian Pages (Page Board) Parliamentarian Postmaster Reading Clerk Sergeant at Arms