116th United States Congress
The 116th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2019, and ended on January 3, 2021, during the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency. Senators elected to regular terms in 2014 finished their terms in this Congress, and House seats were apportioned based on the 2010 Census. In the November 2018 midterm elections, the Democratic Party won a new majority in the House, while the Republican Party increased  its majority in the Senate. Consequently, this was the first split Congress since the 113th Congress of 2013–2015, and the first Republican Senate–Democratic House split since the 99th Congress of 1985–1987. This Congress was the youngest incoming class by mean age in the past three cycles and the most demographically diverse ever. Upon joining the Libertarian Party on May 1, 2020, Justin Amash became the first member of Congress to represent a political party other than the Democrats or the Republicans since Rep. William Carney, who served as a Conservative before switching to the Republican Party in 1985. Before  joining the Libertarian Party, Amash had been serving as an independent since his departure from the Republican Party on July 4, 2019. Paul Mitchell also left the Republicans in December 2020, becoming an independent. Neither incumbent ran for re-election. Demographics. Most members of this Congress were Christian (88.2%), with approximately half being Protestant and 30.5% being Catholic. Jewish membership is 6.4%. Other religions represented included Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. One senator said that she was religiously unaffiliated, while the number of members refusing to specify their religious affiliation increased. Roughly 96% of members held college degrees. All but 128  members were white and all but 131 members were men. Senate. The Senate included 74 men and 26 women, the most women to date. In 6 states, both senators were women; 14 states were represented by 1 man and 1 woman; and 30 states were represented by 2 men. During this Congress, Johnny Isakson retired for health reasons and Kelly Loeffler was appointed, which increased the number of women from 25 after the 2018 elections to 26. There were 91 non-Hispanic white, 4 Hispanic, 2 Black, 2 Asian, and 1 multiracial (Black/Asian) senators. Additionally, 2 senators were LGBTQ+ . The average age of Senators at the beginning of this congress was 62.9 years. House of Representatives. There were 101 women in the House, the largest number in history. There were 313 non-Hispanic white, 56 Black, 44 Hispanic, 15 Asian, and 4 Native American congress members. Eight were LGBTQ+. Two Democrats — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Donna Shalala — were the youngest (30) and oldest (78) freshmen women in history. Freshmen Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN) were the first two Muslim women and freshmen Sharice Davids (D-KS) and Deb Haaland (D-NM) were the first two  Native American women elected as well. The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 116th Congress was 57.6 years. With the election of Carolyn Maloney as the first woman to chair the House Oversight Committee, women chaired a record six House committees in a single Congress (out of 26 women to ever chair House committees in the history of Congress), including House members Maxine Waters (Financial Services), Nita Lowey (Appropriations), Zoe Lofgren (Administration), Eddie Bernice Johnson (Science, Space and Technology) and Nydia Velázquez (Small Business), as well as Kathy Castor, who chaired the Select Committee  on the Climate Crisis. In addition, women chaired a record 39 House subcommittees. Lowey and Kay Granger were also the first women to serve as chair and ranking member of the same committee in the same Congress since the since-defunct Select Committee on the House Beauty Shop, which was chaired and populated entirely by congresswomen during its existence from 1967 to 1977. Diversity of the freshman class. The demographics of the 116th U.S. Congress freshmen were more diverse than any previous incoming class. At least 25 new congressional representatives were Hispanic, Native American, or people of color, and the  incoming class included the first Native American women, the first Muslim women, and the two youngest women ever elected. The 116th Congress included more women elected to the House than any previous Congress. Members. Senate. The numbers refer to their Senate classes. All class 1 seats were contested in the November 2018 elections. In this Congress, class 1 means their term commenced in the current Congress, requiring re-election in 2024; class 2 means their term ends with this Congress, requiring re-election in 2020; and class 3 means their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in  2022. Committees. Section contents: Senate, House, Joint Employees and legislative agency directors. Also called "elected" or "appointed" officials, there are many employees of the House and Senate whose leaders are included here.