In the Senate, two Black women are serving concurrently for the first time. And in the House, two states and one U.S. territory elected their first Black, Hispanic or Pacific Islander woman lawmaker.
The 119th Congress is the most racially and ethnically diverse in history, and it includes the nation’s first openly transgender legislator at the federal level.
In total, at least 80 lawmakers are foreign born or have at least one parent who was born in another country, including 61 in the House and 19 in the Senate.
The public has long been divided over the role of government, but on certain issues there is bipartisan agreement that government should play a major role.
Overall, a slim majority of Americans (55%) express a great deal or fair amount of confidence in federal career employees, while 44% have little or no confidence.
On issues as varied as education and crime, Americans often have a rosier view of how things are going in their communities than in the nation as a whole.