Government

Women make up 28% of all members of the 118th Congress, a considerable increase from where things stood even a decade ago.

Only one of this year’s 35 Senate elections didn’t go the same way as the state’s 2020 presidential vote. The exception was Wisconsin.

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.

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.

There has been a jump in the share of U.S. adults who see the Supreme Court as “friendly” toward religion.

Our study analyzes 198 countries and territories and is based on policies and events in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available.

Nearly a quarter of countries used force to prevent religious gatherings during the pandemic; other government restrictions and social hostilities related to religion remained fairly stable.

But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics.

21% of the roughly 1,000 candidates for U.S. Senate, House or state governor on the fall ballot claim some degree of military experience.

Overall, 46% of Americans say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats.