<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Sessions </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> 1st: January 6, 2015--December 18, 2015 2nd: January 4, 2016--January 3, 2017 </Td> </Tr> <P> The One Hundred Fourteenth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives . It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2017, during the final two full years of Barack Obama's presidency . The 2014 elections gave the Republicans control of the Senate (and control of both houses of Congress) for the first time since the 109th Congress . With 248 seats in the House of Representatives and 54 seats in the Senate, this Congress began with the largest Republican majority since the 71st Congress of 1929--1931 . </P> <Ul> <Li> January 6, 2015: Incumbent Speaker of the House John Boehner was re-elected despite the defections of 25 members from his own Republican caucus, twice the number from the previous Congress . </Li> <Li> January 20, 2015: 2015 State of the Union Address </Li> <Li> March 3, 2015: Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress regarding sanctions against Iran . Netanyahu was invited by Speaker John Boehner without consulting President Obama . </Li> <Li> March 9, 2015: U.S. Senator Tom Cotton wrote and sent a letter to the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran, signed by 47 of the Senate's 54 Republicans, attempting to cast doubt on the Obama administration's authority to engage in nuclear - proliferation negotiations with Iran . </Li> <Li> March 25, 2015: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani addressed a joint session of Congress . </Li> <Li> April 29, 2015: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe addressed a joint session of Congress, becoming the first Japanese leader to do so . </Li> <Li> September 24, 2015: Pope Francis addressed a joint session of Congress, becoming the first Pope to do so . </Li> <Li> September 25, 2015: House Speaker John Boehner announced that he would resign as Speaker and from the House at the end of October 2015 . Subsequently, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the presumptive favorite to succeed John Boehner, unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy for the job . </Li> <Li> October 29, 2015: Paul Ryan was elected to succeed John Boehner as Speaker of the House with 236 votes (54.3%) of the House in favor . He is the youngest Speaker since James G. Blaine in 1869 . </Li> <Li> January 12, 2016: 2016 State of the Union Address </Li> <Li> June 8, 2016: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a joint session of Congress . </Li> <Li> June 22--23, 2016: In the wake of the 2016 Orlando attacks, Congress debated gun control reform . The U.S. House recessed for the July 4 holiday during a sit - in protest held by Democrats that halted business in the chamber for more than 24 hours . </Li> <Li> November 8, 2016: Donald Trump and Mike Pence elected as president and vice-president in presidential elections, while the Republicans retain majority at both Senate and House of Representatives . </Li> </Ul>

Who hold the majority in the house of representatives