115th United States Congress
The 115th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 2017, to January 3, 2019, during the final weeks of Barack Obama's presidency and the first two years of Donald Trump's presidency. The seats in the House were apportioned based on the 2010 United States Census. The Republican Party retained their majorities in both the House and the Senate, and with Donald Trump being sworn in as  President on January 20, 2017, this gave the Republicans an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 109th Congress in 2005. Several political scientists described the legislative accomplishments of this Congress as modest, considering that both Congress and the presidency were under unified Republican Party control. According to a contemporary study, "House and Senate GOP majorities struggled to legislate: GOP fissures and the president frequently undermined the Republican agenda. Most notably, clashes within and between the two parties (for example, on healthcare issues) strained old ways of doing business." Demographics. The average age of members of the  House of Representatives during the 115th Congress was 57.8 years, while the average age of U.S. senators was 61.8 years. The most common occupation of senators prior to being elected to their posts was law, followed by public service/politics and business. In the House of Representatives, business was the dominant prior occupation, followed by public service/politics and law. In the 115th Congress, 94.1% of House members and 100% of senators had attained a bachelor's degree or a higher degree; this was a historically high level of education for a United States Congress. In addition, 167 members of  the House and 55 members of the Senate had law degrees. Only 18 members of Congress had no college education. Ethnic minorities in the 115th Congress consisted of 52 African American members, 45 Hispanic or Latino members, 18 Asian-American or Pacific Islander members, and two members of Native American ancestry. Women comprised 20.1% of the membership in the 115th Congress, which had 109 women and 326 men. This represented an increase of 21 women from the 114th Congress. Seven openly LGBT members served in the 115th Congress. Tammy Baldwin, Jared Polis, Sean Patrick Maloney, Mark Takano, David Cicilline, and  Mark Pocan are openly gay, while Kyrsten Sinema is openly bisexual. The majority of the 115th Congress was religiously affiliated, with 90.7% identifying as Christians. Approximately half of the Christians were Protestant. Other religious faiths of congressmembers in the 115th Congress included Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. Members. Senate. The numbers refer to their Senate classes. All of the class 3 seats were contested in the November 2016 elections. Class 1 terms end with this Congress, requiring re-election in 2018; Class 2 began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 2020; and Class 3 began in this Congress , requiring re-election in 2022. House of Representatives. All 435 seats were filled by the regular elections on November 8, 2016, or subsequent special elections thereafter. Committees. Section contents: Senate, House, Joint