Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

Updated December 12, 2024

Congressional Research Service

https://crsreports.congress.gov

R47470

Congressional Research Service

SUMMARY

Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

This report presents a profile of the membership of the 118th Congress (2023-2024) as of December 12, 2024, or at the beginning of the 118th Congress (January 3, 2023), where noted. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party 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 220 Republicans (plus 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico), 211 Democrats (plus 3 Delegates), and 4 vacant seats. The Senate has 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 4 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, Latter-day Saints, 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-five women serve in the 118th Congress: 131 in the House, including 3 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and 24 in the Senate.

• There are 61 African American Members of the House and 3 in the Senate. This House number includes 2 Delegates.

• There are 61 Hispanic or Latino Members serving: 56 in the House, including 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and 5 in the Senate.

• There are 22 Members (16 Representatives, 3 Delegates, and 3 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.

R47470

December 12, 2024

Jennifer E. Manning Senior Research Librarian

Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

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Contents

Overview and Total Members in History ........................................................................................ 1 Party Breakdown ............................................................................................................................. 1 Age .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Occupations ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Education ......................................................................................................................................... 4

Congressional Service ..................................................................................................................... 5 Religion ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Gender and Ethnicity ....................................................................................................................... 7

Women Members ...................................................................................................................... 7 African American Members ...................................................................................................... 7

Hispanic/Latino American Members ........................................................................................ 8 Asian/Pacific Islander American Members ............................................................................... 8

American Indian Members ........................................................................................................ 8

Foreign Birth ............................................................................................................................. 8 Military Service ......................................................................................................................... 9

Tables

Table 1. Average Age of Members, 115th-118th Congresses ............................................................ 2 Table 2. Average Length of Service for Members of Congress, 115th-118th Congresses ................. 5

Contacts

Author Information ........................................................................................................................ 10

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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, 12,519 individuals² have served as either Representatives (11,198 individuals) or Senators (2,006 individuals).³ Of these individuals, 685 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 December 12, 2024,⁶ are as follows:

• House of Representatives: 220 Republicans (plus 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico) and 211 Democrats (plus 3 Delegates), and 4 vacant seats.

• Senate: 49 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 4 Independents.

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 December 12, 2024, there are three House vacancies, and no Senate 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 March 1, 2024, and CRS calculations to update the total member figure through December 12, 2024. 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 August 2024, 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. One Senator changed party affiliation from Democrat to Independent in May 2024.

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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

Congress Representatives

Newly Elected

Representatives Senators

Newly Elected

Senators

118th 117th 116th 115th

57.9 years 58.4 years 57.6 years 57.8 years

47.8 years 50.6 years 47.9 years 50.8 years

64.0 years 64.3 years 62.9 years 61.8 years

50.4 years 56.1 years 58.1 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 Chuck Grassley (R-IA), born September 17, 1933, who was 89.⁹

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.

9 The previous oldest Senator in the 118th Congress was Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who passed away on September 29, 2023, at the age of 90.

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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,¹⁰ 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;¹¹

• 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);¹²

• 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);¹³

• 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);

10 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.

11 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.

12 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.

13 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 consultants¹⁴ (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.¹⁵ The CQ Member Profiles at the beginning of the 118th Congress indicate the following:

14 The job titles for these consultants in their CQ Member Profiles include “management consultant,” “ethics consultant,” and “nonprofit consultant.”

15 CQ, “118th 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.¹⁶

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.¹⁷

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.¹⁸

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)

16 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.

17 See CRS Report R42365, Representatives and Senators: Trends in Member Characteristics Since 1945, coordinated by R. Eric Petersen.

18 Rhodes and Marshall scholarships fund study at British universities; Fulbright scholarships fund international exchange programs; Truman scholarships fund graduate study toward public service. An additional House Member who was both a Truman and a Marshall Scholar was elected in November 2023. One Member who was both a Rhodes and a Truman Scholar moved from the House to the Senate in December 2024.

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Congress Representatives Senators

115th 9.4 years (4.6 terms) 10.1 years (1.7 terms)

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 2022.¹⁹ 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 two years of House experience, and 16 Senators (16% of Senators) had no more than two 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 two 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.²⁰

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 members of the 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.²¹

19 In addition, one Senator was appointed to and sworn into the Senate in January 2023, after the 118th Congress began.

20 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/.

21 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-five women Members (28. 65% of the total membership) serve in the 118th Congress, 7 more than at the beginning of the 117th Congress.²² One hundred thirty-one women, including 3 Delegates as well as the Resident Commissioner, serve in the House and 24 in the Senate. Of the 131 women in the House, 95 are Democrats, including 2 of the Delegates, and 36 are Republicans, including 1 Delegate as well as the Resident Commissioner. Of the 24 women in the Senate, 14 are Democrats, 9 are Republicans, and 1 is an Independent.²³

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 64 African American Members (11.82% of the total membership) in the 118th Congress, two more than at the beginning of the 117th Congress.²⁴ Sixty-one 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-seven 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-one African American women, including two Delegates, serve in Congress, all in the House.²⁵

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.

22 The 118th Congress began with 153 women Members; one woman House Member was sworn in in March 2023, another in November 2023, another in September 2024, and another in November 2024. One woman House Member died in July 2024. One woman Senator died in September 2023, but was temporarily replaced by another woman Senator in October 2023. Her temporary term expired in December 2024.

23 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/.

24 The 118th Congress began with 62 African American Members. An additional House Member was sworn in in March 2023, another in November 2023, another in September 2024, and another in November 2024. A Senator was temporarily appointed in October 2023 and served until December 2024. A House Member passed away in April 2024, and another in July 2024. For more information, see the Office of the House Historian’s Black Americans in Congress website at https://history.house.gov/baic/.

25 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.

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Hispanic/Latino American Members

There are 61 Hispanic or Latino Members in the 118th Congress, 11.28% of the total membership and 9 more than in the 117th Congress.²⁶ Fifty-six serve in the House, including two Delegates and the Resident Commissioner, and five in the Senate.²⁷ 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 five Hispanic Senators (two Republicans, three 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-two Members of the 118th Congress (4.0% of the total membership) are of Asian, South Asian, or Pacific Islander ancestry. This is the same number as in the beginning of the 117th Congress.²⁸ Nineteen of them (15 Democrats, 4 Republicans) serve in the House, and three (all Democrats) serve in the Senate.²⁹ 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.³⁰ 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, India, Japan, South Korea, and Peru. Some of these Members were born to American citizens working or serving

26 This number includes four 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-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. The 118th Congress began with 62 Hispanic or Latino Members. One House Member of Portuguese ancestry was expelled from the House in December 2023, and an additional Hispanic House Member was sworn in in July 2024.

27 One Hispanic Senator resigned in August 2024.

28 The 118th Congress began with 21 Asian/Pacific Islander American Members. An additional House Member was sworn in in June 2024.

29 One Asian American Member moved from the House to the Senate in December 2024.

30 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.

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abroad.³¹ The U.S. Constitution requires that Representatives be citizens for seven years and Senators be citizens for nine years before they take office.³²

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 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.³³ 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. As of August 2024, three House Members are still serving in the Reserves, and four 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.³⁴

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.³⁵

31 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.

32 Article I, Section 2, clause 2, and Article I, Section 3, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

33 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.

34 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/.

35 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/.

Membership of the 118th Congress: A Profile

Congressional Research Service R47470 · VERSION 25 · UPDATED 10

Author Information

Jennifer E. Manning Senior Research Librarian

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