Government

Twenty years ago this month, the U.S. launched a major invasion of Iraq. President George W. Bush and his administration at first drew broad public support for the use of military force. Yet the campaign soon left Americans deeply divided, and by 2019, 62% said the Iraq War was not worth fighting.

At least 81 voting members of Congress (15%) are foreign born or have at least one parent who was born in another country.

Overall, 57 Black women – among a total of 106 women of color – have ever been elected to the national legislature.

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.

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.

House Freedom Caucus members and their allies produced 28% of all tweets from GOP House members between September 2022 and mid-January 2023.

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.

Thirteen voting members of the 118th Congress identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual – the highest number of openly LGB members in history.

A quarter of voting members of the U.S. Congress identify their race or ethnicity as something other than non-Hispanic White.

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.