The changing face of Congress in 8 charts
The 118th Congress achieved a variety of demographic milestones when its members took office, though it still remains out of step with the U.S. population.
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Nearly all members of the 118th Congress have a bachelor’s degree – and most have a graduate degree, too
In the 118th Congress, 94% of representatives and all but one senator hold at least a bachelor’s degree, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
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House Freedom Caucus on Twitter: Going negative and getting attention
House Freedom Caucus members and their allies produced 28% of all tweets from GOP House members between September 2022 and mid-January 2023.
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Freedom Caucus likely to play a bigger role in new GOP-led House. So who are they?
In the U.S. House, Freedom Caucus members and allies have less seniority than other Republicans and are more likely to come from the South.
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118th Congress breaks record for lesbian, gay and bisexual representation
Thirteen voting members of the 118th Congress identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual – the highest number of openly LGB members in history.
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118th U.S. Congress continues to grow in racial, ethnic diversity
A quarter of voting members of the 118th U.S. Congress identify their race or ethnicity as something other than non-Hispanic White.
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Faith on the Hill
While there has been a decades-long decline in the Christian share of U.S. adults, 88% of the voting members in the new 118th Congress identify as Christian. That is only a few points lower than their share in the late 1970s.
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118th Congress has a record number of women
Women make up 28% of all members of the 118th Congress, a considerable increase from where things stood even a decade ago.
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New Congress will have a few more veterans, but their share of lawmakers is still near a record low
The new House will have 80 members who’ve served in the military, or 18.4% of members. That’s up from 75, or 17.2%, in the 117th Congress.
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Public Has Modest Expectations for Washington’s Return to Divided Government
Most U.S. adults say President Joe Biden (65%) and Republican leaders in Congress (61%) will be unsuccessful getting their agendas enacted in the next two years; only about a third say the president and GOP leaders will be successful. Republicans are less confident than Democrats in midterm vote counts – but more confident than they were after the 2020 election.
