Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile
September 14, 2023
This report presents a profile of the membership of the 118th Congress (2023-2024) as of
September 15, 2023, or at the beginning of the 118th Congress (January 3, 2023), where noted.
Jennifer E. Manning
Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party
Senior Research Librarian
affiliation, average age, occupation, education, length of congressional service, religious

affiliation, gender, ethnicity, foreign birth, and military service.

In the House of Representatives, there are 221 Republicans (plus 2 Delegates and the Resident
Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 212 Democrats (plus 3 Delegates), and 2 vacant seats. The Senate has 49 Republicans, 48
Democrats, and 3 Independents, who all caucus with the Democrats. Additionally,
• The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 118th Congress was 57.9 years; of
Senators, 64.0 years.
• The overwhelming majority, 96%, of Members of Congress have a college education.
• The dominant professions of Members are public service/politics, business, and law.
• Most Members identify as Christians, and the collective majority of these affiliate with a Protestant
denomination. Roman Catholics account for the largest single religious denomination, and numerous other
affiliations are represented, including Jewish, Mormon, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, Greek and Russian
Orthodox, Pentecostal Christian, Unitarian Universalist, and Adventist.
• The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 118th Congress was 8.5 years (4.3
House terms); for Senators, 11.2 years (1.9 Senate terms).
• One hundred fifty-four women serve in the 118th Congress: 129 in the House, including 3 Delegates and the
Resident Commissioner, and 25 in the Senate.
• There are 60 African American Members of the House and 3 in the Senate. This House number includes 2
Delegates.
• There are 62 Hispanic or Latino Members serving: 56 in the House, including 2 Delegates and the Resident
Commissioner, and 6 in the Senate.
• There are 21 Members (16 Representatives, 3 Delegates, and 2 Senators) who are Asian Americans or
Pacific Islander Americans.
• Five Native Americans (American Indians or Alaska Natives) serve in the 118th Congress (4 in the House,
1 in the Senate).
The portions of this report covering political party affiliation, gender, ethnicity, and vacant seats may be updated as events
warrant. The remainder of the report will not be updated.

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Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

Overview and Total Members in History
Congress is composed of 541 individuals1 from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the
U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico. Since
1789, 12,508 individuals2 have served as either Representatives (11,190 individuals) or Senators
(2,002 individuals).3 Of these individuals, 683 have served in both chambers. An additional 179
individuals have served in the House in the role of territorial Delegate or Resident
Commissioner.4
The following is a profile of the 118th Congress (2023-2024).5
Party Breakdown
In the 118th Congress, the current party alignments as of September 15, 2023,6 are as follows:
• House of Representatives: 221 Republicans (plus 2 Delegates and the Resident
Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 213 Democrats (plus 3 Delegates), and 2 vacant
seats.
• Senate: 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 3 Independents, who all caucus with
the Democrats.

1 This 541 number is the maximum number of individuals who may currently serve in the House and Senate and
assumes that no seat is temporarily vacant. As of September 15, 2023, there are two House vacancies. The 541 number
includes the 535 Members from the 50 states (100 Senators, 435 Representatives), 5 Members who are Delegates (from
the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands), and 1
Member who is Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. References in this report to “Representative(s)” include the
435 Members of the House from the 50 states and exclude the Members who are Delegates and the Resident
Commissioner. Percentages in this report assume a full Congress of 541 Members.
For more information on the status of the Delegates and Resident Commissioner, refer to CRS Report R40170,
Parliamentary Rights of the Delegates and Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, by Jane A. Hudiburg.
2 U.S. Congress, House, Office of the Historian, “Total Members of the House and State Representation,” at
http://history.house.gov/Institution/Total-Members/Total-Members/, updated January 3, 2023, and CRS calculations to
update the total member figure through March 10, 2023.
Information about all the Members who have served in Congress is available in the Biographical Directory of the
United States Congress, a website maintained by the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate at
http://bioguide.congress.gov.
3 A cumulative, chronological list of all U.S. Senators is available on the Senate website, current through March 10,
2023, at https://www.senate.gov/senators/Senators1789toPresent.htm. Information about all House Members is
available on the House website at http://history.house.gov/Institution/Total-Members/Total-Members/.
4 The Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico serves a four-year term, unlike other House members who serve two-
year terms. The Philippines was represented in the House by Resident Commissioners from 1907 until 1946, when it
became an independent nation. For more information, see CRS Report R40555, Delegates to the U.S. Congress:
History and Current Status, by Jane A. Hudiburg.
5 For background information on the previous Congress, refer to CRS Report R46705, Membership of the 117th
Congress: A Profile, by Jennifer E. Manning.
6 The 118th Congress began on January 3, 2023, with the following party alignments: House of Representatives: 222
Republicans (including 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 212 Democrats (including 3
Delegates), and 1 vacant seat; Senate: 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 3 Independents, who all caucus with the
Democrats.
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Age
The average age at the beginning of the 118th Congress was 57.9 years for Representatives and
64.0 years for Senators.7
Table 1 shows the average ages at the beginning of the 118th and three previous Congresses.
Table 1. Average Age of Members, 115th-118th Congresses
Average (mean) age at the beginning of the Congress
Newly Elected
Newly Elected
Congress
Representatives
Representatives
Senators
Senators
118th
57.9 years
47.8 years
64.0 years
50.4 years
117th
58.4 years
50.6 years
64.3 years
56.1 years
116th
57.6 years
47.9 years
62.9 years
58.1 years
115th
57.8 years
50.8 years
61.8 years
54.8 years
Source: CRS calculations based on CQ, “118th Congress: Birthdays,” https://plus.cq.com/members/factfile/
birthdays.
Notes: Representatives’ age data do not include the Delegates and the Resident Commissioner. Newly elected
Members’ data do not include those returning to the House or Senate for a second time.
The U.S. Constitution requires Representatives to be at least 25 years old when they take office.8
The youngest Representative in the 118th Congress is Maxwell Frost (D-FL), born January 17,
1997, who was 25 at the beginning of the 118th Congress. The oldest Representative in the 118th
Congress is Grace Napolitano (D-CA), born December 4, 1936, who was 86.
Senators must be at least 30 years old when they take office. The youngest Senator in the 118th
Congress is Jon Ossoff (D-GA), born February 16, 1987, who was 35 at the beginning of the
Congress. The oldest Senator in the 118th Congress is Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), born June 22,
1933, who was 89.
Occupations
CQ.com provides data on occupations declared by Members of Congress in the 118th Congress.
The most common professions are law, business, and public service/politics. For example, 30% of
House Members, and 51% of Senators, have law degrees and have practiced law. Three hundred
fifty-two House Members (80% of the House) and 82 Senators (82% of the Senate) have served
as public servants or elected officials at the local, state, or federal level before arriving in
Congress. CQ data also indicates that at least 136 House Members (31% of the House) and 26
Senators (26% of the Senate) have been owners, founders, or executives of businesses or
companies.

7 For more information about age distributions in the 118th Congress, see Pew Research Center, “House gets younger,
Senate gets older: A look at the age and generation of lawmakers in the 118th Congress,” January 30, 2023, at
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/01/30/house-gets-younger-senate-gets-older-a-look-at-the-age-and-
generation-of-lawmakers-in-the-118th-congress/. Please note the Pew study uses median, not mean, averages.
8 Article I, Section 2, clause 2, of the U.S. Constitution.
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A closer look at the range of prior occupations and previously held public offices of Members of
the House and Senate at the beginning of the 118th Congress, as listed in their CQ Member
Profiles,9 also shows the following:
• 44 Senators with previous House service;
• 101 Members who have worked in education, including teachers, professors,
instructors, school fundraisers, counselors, administrators, or coaches (78 in the
House, 23 in the Senate);
• 4 physicians in the Senate, 16 physicians in the House, plus 5 dentists;10
• 1 psychologist (in the House), an optometrist (in the Senate), 2 pharmacists (in
the House), and 3 nurses and 1 emergency medical technician (all in the House);
• 5 ordained ministers (3 in the House, 2 in the Senate);
• 41 former mayors (34 in the House, 7 in the Senate);
• 13 former state governors (all in the Senate) and 10 lieutenant governors (6 in the
Senate, 4 in the House);
• 6 attorneys general of their states (all in the Senate) and 6 secretaries of state (2
in the Senate, 4 in the House);
• 16 former judges (all but 1 in the House) and 32 prosecutors (6 in the Senate, 26
in the House) who have served in city, county, state, tribal, federal, or military
capacities;
• 3 former Ambassadors (1 in the Senate, 2 in the House);
• 264 former state or territorial legislators (45 in the Senate, 219 in the House,
including 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico);11
• at least 77 former congressional staffers (16 in the Senate, 61 in the House,
including 3 Delegates), as well as 4 former congressional pages (1 in the House
and 3 in the Senate);12
• 3 sheriffs, 4 police officers, 1 fire chief, 1 firefighter, 1 parole officer, 2 CIA
employees, and 1 FBI agent (all in the House);
• 1 Peace Corps volunteer in the House and 1 AmeriCorps volunteer in the Senate;
• 2 physicists and 2 chemists, all in the House, and 1 geologist in the Senate;
• 9 engineers (8 in the House and 1 in the Senate);
• 29 public relations, marketing, or communications professionals (3 in the Senate,
26 in the House) and 5 accountants (1 in the Senate and 4 in the House);

9 CQ Member Profiles are available on the CQ.com subscription database at http://www.cq.com/members/home.do.
The CQ.com database is available in all House and Senate offices, as well as some academic libraries. The professions
listed here are not exhaustive and are not necessarily the ones practiced by Members immediately prior to entering
Congress. Most Members list more than one profession in their CQ Member Profiles.
10 One of the medical doctors in the Senate is an ophthalmologist. For more information on medical professionals
serving in the House, see the Library of the House of Representatives’ “Member Demographics” web page at
https://clerk.house.gov/Members#Demographics. For Senators, see the Senate Historical Office’s “Physicians in the
Senate” web page at https://www.senate.gov/senators/PhysiciansintheSenate.htm.
11 National Conference of State Legislators, “Former State Legislators in the 118th Congress” (as of January 2023), at
https://documents.ncsl.org/wwwncsl/State-Federal/Former-State-Legislators-118th-Congress-January2023.pdf.
12 Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider, Congressional Deskbook, 6th ed. (Washington: TheCapitol.Net, 2012),
Figure 5.22, supplemented by data from CQ Member Profiles and House and Senate payroll documents.
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• 4 software company executives in the House and 2 in the Senate;
• 42 consultants13 (7 in the Senate, 35 in the House), 5 car dealership owners (all in
the House), and 5 venture capitalists (1 in the House, 4 in the Senate);
• 11 bankers or bank executives (1 in the Senate, 10 in the House), 25 veterans of
the real estate industry (2 in the Senate, 23 in the House), and 10 Members who
have worked in the construction industry (1 in the Senate, 9 in the House);
• 6 social workers (2 in the Senate, 4 in the House) and 5 union representatives (all
in the House);
• 24 nonprofit executives or founders (22 in the House, 2 in the Senate);
• 2 radio talk show hosts (both in the House); 4 radio or television broadcasters,
managers, or owners (3 in the House, 1 in the Senate); 10 reporters or journalists
(1 in the Senate, 9 in the House); and 2 newspaper publishers in the House;
• 17 insurance agents or executives (3 in the Senate, 14 in the House) and 16
Members who have worked in the securities and investment industries (3 in the
Senate, 13 in the House);
• 1 artist, 1 book publisher, and 1 speechwriter (all in the House), and 2
documentary filmmakers in the Senate;
• 7 restaurateurs, as well as 3 coffee shop owners, and 1 wine store owner (all in
the House), and 1 brewpub owner in the Senate;
• 31 farmers, ranchers, or cattle farm owners (8 in the Senate, 23 in the House);
• 1 almond orchard owner, 1 crops nursery owner, as well as a forester, a fruit
orchard worker, and a horse trainer (all in the House);
• 1 flight attendant and 4 pilots, all in the House, and 1 astronaut in the Senate;
• 2 professional football players, 1 hockey player, 1 baseball player, and 1 mixed
martial arts fighter (all in the House); and
• 6 current members of the military reserves (5 in the House, 1 in the Senate) and 5
current members of the National Guard (all in the House).
Other occupations listed in the CQ Member Profiles include emergency dispatcher, ride share
driver, animal nutrition specialist, waiter, electrician, rodeo announcer, carpenter, video game
developer, computer systems analyst, software engineer, R&D lab executive, and explosives
expert.
Education
As has been true in recent Congresses, the vast majority of Members (93.8% of House Members
and 99% of Senators) at the beginning of the 118th Congress have earned at least a bachelor’s
degree. Sixty-four percent of House Members and 79% of Senators hold educational degrees
beyond a bachelor’s.14 The CQ Member Profiles at the beginning of the 118th Congress indicate
the following:

13 The job titles for these consultants in their CQ Member Profiles include “management consultant,” “ethics
consultant,” and “nonprofit consultant.”
14 CQ, “117th Congress: Education,” at https://plus.cq.com/members/factfile/education.
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• 23 Members of the House have no educational degree beyond a high school
diploma or GED;
• 5 Members of the House, and 1 Senator, have associate’s degrees as their highest
degrees;
• 107 Members of the House and 20 Senators earned a master’s degree as their
highest attained degrees;
• 132 Members of the House (30.5% of the House) and 51 Senators (51% of the
Senate) hold law degrees;
• 22 Representatives and 4 Senators have doctoral (Ph.D., D.Phil., Ed.D., or
D.Min.) degrees; and
• 21 Members of the House and 5 Senators have medical degrees.15
By comparison, approximately 35 years ago in the 100th Congress (1987-1988), 85.5% of House
Members and 89% of Senators held bachelor’s degrees. Forty-five years ago, in the 95th Congress
(1977-1978), 82.7% of House Members and 87% of Senators held bachelor’s degrees. Sixty years
ago, in the 87th Congress (1961-1962), 76% of House Members and 76% of Senators held
bachelor’s degrees.16
Seven Representatives and one Senator are graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, five
Representatives and one Senator graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, two Representatives
graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, and one Senator graduated from the U.S. Merchant
Marine Academy. Two Representatives and one Senator were Rhodes Scholars, two
Representatives were Fulbright Scholars, two Representatives were Marshall Scholars, and one
Representative and one Senator were Truman Scholars.17
Congressional Service
The average length of service for Representatives at the beginning of the 118th Congress was 8.5
years (4.3 House terms); for Senators, 11.2 years (1.9 Senate terms).
Table 2 shows the average length of service at the beginning of the 118th and three previous
Congresses.
Table 2. Average Length of Service for Members of Congress, 115th-118th Congresses
Average (mean) at the beginning of the Congress, in years and numbers of terms
Congress
Representatives
Senators
118th
8.5 years (4.3 terms)
11.2 years (1.9 terms)
117th
8.9 years (4.5 terms)
11.0 years (1.8 terms)
116th
8.6 years (4.3 terms)
10.1 years (1.7 terms)
115th
9.4 years (4.6 terms)
10.1 years (1.7 terms)

15 Four Senators and 16 Representatives have M.D. degrees, 1 Senator has an O.D. (doctor of optometry) degree, and 5
Representatives have D.D.S. (doctor of dental surgery) degrees.
16 See CRS Report R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945, coordinated
by R. Eric Petersen.
17 Rhodes and Marshall scholarships fund study at British universities; Fulbright scholarships fund international
exchange programs; Truman scholarships fund graduate study toward public service.
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Source: CRS Report R41545, Congressional Careers: Service Tenure and Patterns of Member Service, 1789-2023, by
Sarah J. Eckman and Amber Hope Wilhelm.
Notes: Representatives are elected for two-year terms. Senators are elected for six-year terms. Note that 44
Senators in the 118th Congress have previously served in the House. Their House service is not included in this
average, nor is the House service of Senators included in previous Congresses.
At the beginning of the 118th Congress, 74 of the House Members (16.8% of the total House
membership) had first been elected to the House in November 2022, and 7 of the Senators (7% of
the total Senate membership) had first been elected to the Senate in November 2022.18 By
comparison, at the beginning of the 117th Congress, 12.9% of the House and 9% of the Senate
were newly elected “freshmen.”
At the beginning of the 118th Congress, 137 House Members (31.1% of House Members) had no
more than 2 years of House experience, and 16 Senators (16% of Senators) had no more than 2
years of Senate experience. By comparison, at the beginning of the 117th Congress, 29.7% of the
House, and 18% of Senators, had no more than 2 years of experience in their respective
chambers.
For more historical information on the tenure of Members of Congress, see CRS Report R41545,
Congressional Careers: Service Tenure and Patterns of Member Service, 1789-2023, by Sarah J.
Eckman and Amber Hope Wilhelm.
Religion
Ninety-six percent of the Members of the 118th Congress report an affiliation with a specific
religion.19
Statistics gathered by the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life, which studies the
religious affiliation of Representatives and Senators, and CQ at the beginning of the 118th
Congress showed the following:
• 56.7% of Members (247 in the House, 56 in the Senate) are Protestant, with
Baptist as the most represented denomination, followed by Methodist;
• 27.7% of Members (122 in the House, 26 in the Senate) are Catholic;
• 6.2% of Members (24 in the House, 9 in the Senate) are Jewish;
• 1.7% of Members (6 in the House, 3 in the Senate) are Mormon (Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints);
• 2 Members (1 in the House, 1 in the Senate) are Buddhist, 3 Representatives are
Muslim, and 2 Representatives are Hindu; and
• other religious affiliations represented include Eastern Orthodox, Messianic
Jewish, Unitarian Universalist, and Adventist.20

18 In addition, one Senator was appointed to and sworn into the Senate in January 2023, after the 118th Congress began.
19 Twenty-two Members of the 118th Congress do not specify a religious affiliation, or report themselves as
unaffiliated. Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life Project, “Faith on the Hill: The Religious Composition
of the 118th Congress,” January 3, 2023, at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-2023/.
20 Detailed religious affiliation information for Members of the 118th Congress, and comparisons to the U.S. general
population, are available at https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-2023/.
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Gender and Ethnicity
Women Members
One hundred fifty-four women Members (28.47% of the total membership) serve in the 118th
Congress, 6 more than at the beginning of the 117th Congress.21 One hundred twenty-nine women,
including 3 Delegates as well as the Resident Commissioner, serve in the House and 25 in the
Senate. Of the 129 women in the House, 94 are Democrats, including 2 of the Delegates, and 35
are Republicans, including 1 Delegate as well as the Resident Commissioner. Of the 25 women in
the Senate, 15 are Democrats, 9 are Republicans, and 1 is an Independent.22
By comparison, 30 years ago in the 103rd Congress (1993-1994), 48 women served in the House,
and 7 in the Senate. Forty years ago, in the 98th Congress (1977-1978), there were 22 women in
the House, and 2 in the Senate.
African American Members
There are 63 African American Members (11.65% of the total membership) in the 118th Congress,
one more than at the beginning of the 117th Congress.23 Sixty serve in the House, including two
Delegates, and three serve in the Senate. This number includes two Representatives who are of
African American and Asian ancestry, and two Representatives who are of African American and
Hispanic ancestry. In this report, each of these four Members is counted as belonging to two
ethnic groups. Fifty-six of the African American House Members, including two Delegates, are
Democrats, and four are Republicans. Two of the Senators are Democrats and one is Republican.
Thirty African American women, including two Delegates, serve in Congress, all in the House.24
By comparison, 40 years ago in the 98th Congress (1983-1984), 22 African American Members
served in the House, and none in the Senate. Sixty years ago, in the 87th Congress (1961-1962),
there were 4 African American Members of Congress, all serving in the House.
Hispanic/Latino American Members
There are 62 Hispanic or Latino Members in the 118th Congress, 11.5% of the total membership
and 10 more than in the 117th Congress.25 Fifty-six serve in the House, including two Delegates

21 The 118th Congress began with 153 women Members; one woman House Member was sworn in in March 2023.
22 For more information, see CRS Report RL30261, Women in Congress, 1917-2022: Service Dates and Committee
Assignments by Member, and Lists by State and Congress, by Jennifer E. Manning and Ida A. Brudnick, and the Office
of the House Historian’s Women in Congress website at http://history.house.gov/Exhibition-and-Publications/WIC/
Women-in-Congress/.
23 The 118th Congress began with 62 African American Members. An additional House Member was sworn in in March
2023.
For more information, see the Office of the House Historian’s Black Americans in Congress website at
https://history.house.gov/baic/.
24 For more information, see CRS Report RL30378, African American Members of the U.S. Congress: 1870-2020, by
Ida A. Brudnick and Jennifer E. Manning, and the Office of the House Historian’s Black Americans in Congress
website at https://history.house.gov/baic/. Due to differences in data collection or characterization, demographic data in
other studies on Members of Congress may differ from those presented in this report.
25 This number includes five House Members who are of Portuguese ancestry and belong to the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus or the Congressional Hispanic Conference. For more information, see the Office of the House Historian’s
Hispanic Americans in Congress website at http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/HAIC/Hispanic-
(continued...)
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and the Resident Commissioner, and six in the Senate. These numbers include two House
Members who are also of Asian descent, and two House Members who are also of African
ancestry; these Members are counted in both ethnic categories in this report. Of the Members of
the House, 38 are Democrats (including 1 Delegate) and 18 are Republicans (including 1
Delegate and the Resident Commissioner). Nineteen are women, including the Resident
Commissioner. Of the six Hispanic Senators (two Republicans, four Democrats), one is a woman.
By comparison, 40 years ago in the 98th Congress (1983-1984), 12 Hispanic or Latino Members
served in Congress. All 12 were male Members of the House.
Asian/Pacific Islander American Members
Twenty-one Members of the 118th Congress (3.9% of the total membership) are of Asian, South
Asian, or Pacific Islander ancestry. This is one less than in the beginning of the 117th Congress.
Nineteen of them (15 Democrats, 4 Republicans) serve in the House, and two (both Democrats)
serve in the Senate. These numbers include two House Members who are also of African
American ancestry and two House Members who are also of Hispanic ancestry; these Members
are counted in both ethnic categories in this report. Of those serving in the House, three are
Delegates. Eleven of the Asian, Pacific Islander, or South Asian American Members are female:
nine in the House, and two in the Senate. By comparison, approximately 40 years ago in the 98th
Congress (1983-1984), there were five Asian/Pacific Islander Americans in the House, and two in
the Senate. All were male.
American Indian Members
There are five Native American (American Indian or Alaska Native) Members of the 118th
Congress: four in the House (two Republicans and two Democrats) and one, a Republican, in the
Senate.26 This is 0.92% of the total congressional membership.
Foreign Birth
Twenty-seven Representatives and five Senators (5.9% of the 118th Congress) were born outside
the United States. Their places of birth include Cuba, Germany, Guatemala, Indian, Japan, South
Korea, and Peru. Some of these Members were born to American citizens working or serving
abroad.27 The U.S. Constitution requires that Representatives be citizens for seven years and
Senators be citizens for nine years before they take office.28
Military Service
At the beginning of the 118th Congress, there were 98 individuals (18.1% of the total
membership) who had served or were serving in the military, 7 more than at the beginning of the

Americans-in-Congress/. Due to differences in data collection or characterization, demographic data in other studies on
Members of Congress may differ from those presented in this report.
26 This number includes only Members who are enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. For more information,
see CRS congressional distribution memorandum, Members of Congress of American Indian Descent, by Jennifer
Manning, available to congressional offices upon request.
27 For more information, see Pew Research Center, “The changing face of Congress in 8 charts,” February 7, 2023, at
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/02/07/the-changing-face-of-congress/; Office of the Senate Historian’s
Senators Born Outside the United States list at https://www.senate.gov/senators/Foreign_born.htm; and the Library of
the House of Representatives’ Foreign Born list at https://clerk.house.gov/documents/Foreign_Born.pdf.
28 Article I, Section 2, clause 2, and Article I, Section 3, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution.
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117th Congress (91 Members). According to lists compiled by CQ, the House as of January 2023
had 82 veterans (including 5 female Members, as well as 2 Delegates); the Senate had 16
veterans, including 2 women.29 These Members’ service included tours of duty in the Vietnam
War and the Persian Gulf War, and combat or peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and
Kosovo. Five House Members and one Senator are still serving in the reserves, and five House
Members are still serving in the National Guard. Four of the seven female veterans are combat
veterans.
The increased number of veterans in the 118th Congress reverses the trend of steady decline in
recent decades in the number of Members who have served in the military. For example, 64% of
the Members of the 97th Congress (1981-1982) were veterans, and in the 92nd Congress (1971-
1972), 73% of the Members were veterans.30
For summary information on the demographics of Members in selected past Congresses,
including age trends, occupational backgrounds, military veteran status, and educational
attainment, see CRS Report R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member
Characteristics Since 1945, coordinated by R. Eric Petersen.31

Author Information

Jennifer E. Manning

Senior Research Librarian

29 CQ, “118th Congress: House Military Veterans,” at https://plus.cq.com/members/factfile/house-veterans; and “118th
Congress: Senate Military Veterans,” at https://plus.cq.com/members/factfile/senate-veterans. Both lists are frequently
updated to reflect changes since the 118th Congress convened.
30 For more information and a list of current veteran Members, see the Military Times, “Breaking down the number of
veterans in the 118th Congress,” January 3, 2023, at https://www.militarytimes.com/news/election-2022/2023/01/03/
breaking-down-the-number-of-veterans-in-the-118th-congress/.
31 Because of differences in data sources used, some demographic information may differ between CRS Report
R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945, coordinated by R. Eric Petersen,
this report, and other demographic studies of Congress.
In addition to the CQ Member Profiles, other sources of demographic information for the 118th Congress include Vital
Statistics on Congress at https://www.brookings.edu/multi-chapter-report/vital-statistics-on-congress/, a joint project of
the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution; and the Library of the House of Representatives’
“Member Demographics” web page at https://clerk.house.gov/Members#Demographics, which features lists of House
Members such as “118th Congress—Lawyers” and “118th Congress—Former Mayors.” The Secretary of the Senate also
maintains a collection of lists about Senators at https://www.senate.gov/reference/Senators.htm.
For summary information, see Pew Research Center Fact Tank’s “The changing face of Congress in 8 charts,” at
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/02/07/the-changing-face-of-congress/, and other items on their
“Congress” page at https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/politics-policy/government/congress/.
Congressional Research Service

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Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

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Congressional Research Service
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