New senator to serve for 3 months — but it won’t be the shortest congressional tenure

The newest member of Congress, New Jersey Sen. George Helmy, won’t be getting too comfortable on Capitol Hill.

In fact, he only plans to be in office for about three months — which is shorter than some congressional internships and just a small fraction of a normal six-year term. But while it will be unusually brief, his tenure will be far from the shortest in congressional history.

Helmy, a Democrat who was sworn into office on Sept. 9, was appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy to fill the seat of former Sen. Bob Menendez, who resigned on Aug. 20 following his conviction on corruption charges.

Helmy, formerly Murphy’s chief of staff, has committed to stepping down after the winner in the race for Menendez’s seat is certified on Nov. 27. Democrat Andy Kim and Republican Curtis Bashaw are running in that race.

Murphy will then appoint the winner to the Senate — giving them seniority over the other new senators, who will be sworn into office in January.

“Although I will only serve for a few months, I will do my best to ensure that our work is about us and not about I,” Helmy said during an August press conference.

Over the years, multiple members of Congress have served for even less than three months — with several holding the unenviable distinction of having lasted just a single day.

Shortest tenures in Congress

The first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, Rebecca Latimer Felton, only held her position for 24 hours.

On Oct. 3, 1922, the governor of Georgia — in a largely symbolic gesture — appointed Felton, then 87, to take up a vacant Senate seat before an election, according to Senate records.

Felton, a former campaign manager and journalist, was sworn in on Nov. 21 — two years and after the the 19th Amendment passed, granting women the right to vote. She served for one day before a newly elected senator was sworn in to replace her.

In her sole speech on the Senate floor, she said, “When the women of the country come in and sit with you…you will get ability, you will get integrity...you will get exalted patriotism, and you will get unstinted usefulness.”

Felton is “often named as the shortest-serving senator in Senate history,” Josh Howard, an assistant historian at the Senate Historical Office, told McClatchy News. “But this is a bit of a technicality,” he said, noting that nearly two months passed between her appointment and her official swearing-in ceremony.

At least two members of the House of Representatives held office for just a single day.

Louisiana Reps. Effingham Lawrence and George Sheridan both had their day in the sun together on March 3, 1875, according to House records.

Both men had challenged the electoral wins of their GOP opponent after elections in 1872, and a House committee investigation didn’t determine that they were the legitimate winners until two years later.

“The full House—busy with other pending legislation—did not take up the committee’s report until the final day of the Congress,” resulting in Sheridan and Lawrence only serving for one day.

Neither men made any speeches or proposed legislation in their brief stint in power.

Veronica Grace Boland, the first female member of Congress from Pennsylvania, lasted a good deal longer in her short tenure.

On May 18, 1942, her husband — a Democratic representative — died of a heart attack just hours before winning a primary to serve another term, according to House records.

The state’s Democratic leadership then selected Boland to run for his seat in a special election, which she won on Nov. 3.

She was sworn in on Nov. 19 and served for the last two months of her husband’s term before leaving Congress — having opted not to run for a full term.

She made no floor speeches, but, upon her election, she told reporters, “I really can’t get excited about it…I would rather have Mr. Boland there, of course.”

More recently, several members of Congress have served for just a handful of months, according to a 2009 NPR report.

In 1992, Jocelyn Burdick was tapped to take over for her husband, a Democratic North Dakota senator Quentin Burdick, who died while in office. She held the position for a little more than two months and opted not to run to keep the position.

In 2002, Dean Barkley was appointed by the governor of Minnesota to fill the seat of an independent senator who had died in office. Barkley was in office for 59 days, per the outlet.

In contrast, most members of Congress remain in office for about a decade, according to a 2024 Congressional Research Service report. The average representative stays on for 8.5 years, over four terms, and the average senator stays on for 11.2 years, nearly two terms.

Former Sen. Menendez was in office for 18 years before his conviction.

This story was originally published September 10, 2024 at 6:16 AM with the headline "New senator to serve for 3 months — but it won’t be the shortest congressional tenure."