How Congress compares to the country
Hint: It’s older, whiter, and much more male.
Good morning! It’s Friday, January 10, 2025. Inauguration Day is 10 days away.
If it’s Friday, it’s time to fill you in on the pieces of legislation moving through the halls of power here in Washington.
This week, Congress was still getting itself organized for a new session — and had to take time off for ceremonial functions, like counting the electoral votes and honoring Jimmy Carter — but I do have two bills to report on.
Then, because it was a light week legislatively, we’ll also take a broader look at the 119th Congress and how it compares to the country as a whole.
This week in Congress
Here are the first two bills to advance through the 119th Congress:
1) The Laken Riley Act, named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by an undocumented immigrant, passed the House (264-159) and advanced in the Senate (84-9).
Under the bill, federal authorities would be required to detain undocumented immigrants charged with burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. State attorneys general would also be empowered to sue the federal government if an undocumented immigrant is released from custody and then goes on to cause “financial harm in excess of $100.”
2) The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act passed the House (243-140).
The measure would sanction any “foreign persons” involved in International Criminal Court (ICC) efforts to investigate or arrest American citizens or citizens of U.S. allies that have not consented to ICC jurisdiction. (Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant, is a prominent example. Neither the U.S. nor Israel are party to the ICC.)
Both bills received bipartisan support, splitting Democrats and uniting Republicans:
Laken Riley Act (House): ✅ 216 Republicans + 48 Democrats. ❌ 159 Democrats.
Laken Riley Act (Senate): ✅ 51 Republicans + 33 Democrats. ❌ 9 Democrats.
Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act (House): ✅ 198 Republicans + 45 Democrats. ❌ 140 Democrats. 🤷♂️: 1 Republican abstention.
Meet the 119th Congress
A quick overview of the House and Senate members who took office last week…
By party
Senate
53 Republicans (+4 from last Congress)
45 Democrats (-2)
2 Democratic-leaning Independents (-2)
House
220 Republicans (-2)
215 Democrats (+2)
These are the numbers as of the 2024 elections. Both chambers will start out a little tighter than that, as Sen.-elect Jim Justice (R-WV) isn’t being sworn in until next week, former Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) resigned at midnight to become vice president, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) resigned before taking office, and Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mike Waltz (R-FL) are set to become UN ambassador and national security adviser, respectively.
Once Stefanik and Waltz resign, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will be presiding over a 217-215 majority, meaning he won’t be able to lose a single member on party-line votes. Their seats, along with Gaetz’s, are slated to be filled in spring.
Johnson’s is the smallest House majority at the beginning of any Congress since 1931. As Axios notes, this is the first time in modern history that the House is more closely divided on partisan lines than the Senate.
By gender
Senate
75 men
25 women
House
309 men
125 women
This represents a slight drop in the number of female lawmakers, from 151 at the end of last Congress to 150 at the start of this one. Per The 19th, it’s the first time since 2011 that the number of women serving in Congress has declined.
By race
Senate
84 White
7 Hispanic/Latino
5 Black
3 Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
1 American Indian/Alaska Native
House
304 White
55 Black
37 Hispanic/Latino
12 Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
19 Multiracial/Other
2 American Indian/Alaska Native
The racial breakdown of the House didn’t change much, but the Senate notably added five new members of color: Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), who are Black; Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who are Hispanic; and Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), who is Asian-American.
There has never been as many Black senators serving together simultaneously, or as many Hispanic senators. It is also the first time there have been multiple Black women in the Senate at the same time. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) also became the longest-serving Black senator in history.
By religion
Senate
58 Protestant
24 Catholic
9 Jewish
4 Don’t know/refused to say
3 Mormon
1 Buddhist
House
237 Protestant
126 Catholic
23 Jewish
17 Don’t know/refused to say
6 Mormon
6 Orthodox Christian
4 Muslim
4 Hindu
3 Unaffiliated
3 Unitarian Universalist
2 Buddhist
1 Messianic Jewish
1 Humanist
In the charts below, note that the second-largest group in the U.S. — Unaffiliated (28% of the country) — makes up such a small percentage of Congress (0.6%) that it couldn’t even fit a label.
By generation
Senate
6 Silent Generation
61 Baby Boomers
28 Generation X
5 Millennials
House
19 Silent Generation
170 Baby Boomers
180 Generation X
69 Millennials
1 Generation Z
Per NBC News, this is the third-oldest Congress in history. It’s also the first time, NBC found, that there are more members of Generation X than Baby Boomers in the House.
Six new House members born in the 1990s were elected: Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA), Brandon Gill (R-TX), Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ), Sarah McBride (D-DE), and Addison McDowell (R-NC). Millennials all, they join the other sitting lawmaker born in the ’90s, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), who is the sole Generation Z member of Congress.
More news to know
Interesting dynamic to track: In its first Trump-related case of the second Trump era, the Supreme Court — one-third of which he appointed — dealt the president-elect a loss.
In a 5-4 decision handed down last night, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court’s liberals in ruling that Trump can be sentenced today in New York for his hush money conviction.
In his first administration, the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration more than any president in the modern era. Trump spoke on the phone with Justice Samuel Alito earlier this week, just hours before his lawyers asked the court to stop the New York sentencing; according to Alito, they spoke about one of his law clerks getting a job in Trump’s administration and did not bring up the case.
Next up: Trump was also dealt a loss on the appeals court level Thursday, when the 11th Circuit ruled that the Justice Department can release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The appeals court order will not go into effect immediately, however, giving Trump time to appeal to the Supreme Court — setting up his next test before the justices.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today over whether a law poised to ban TikTok next week should go into effect. Trump is a player in that case as well, having filed an amicus brief urging the court to delay the ban from going into effect.
More headlines…
NPR: Jimmy Carter remembered by colleagues, family and friends as a devoted public servant / ABC: Trump talks with Barack Obama, shakes hands with Mike Pence during Carter funeral
CNN: As the L.A. fires rage, Mayor Karen Bass faces fierce criticism for overseas trip, budget cuts
NYT: Inside Trump’s Search for a Health Threat to Justify His Immigration Crackdown / Axios: Trump previews 100 executive orders, including immigration crackdown
CBS: Fetterman to be first sitting Democratic U.S. senator to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Politico: Cuomo to tap longtime ally for likely New York City mayoral bid against Adams
The day ahead
All times Eastern.
President Biden and Vice President Harris will attend a briefing at 11:30 a.m. on the federal response to the wildfires in California.
President-elect Trump is set to be sentenced at 9:30 a.m. in New York. Judge Juan Merchan has confirmed that prison time will not be included in the sentence.
The House and Senate are done for the week, despite the Senate’s pledge to work on Fridays in 2025.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments at 10 a.m. in TikTok v. Garland, the social media app’s First Amendment challenge against a bipartisan law that requires it to be banned in the U.S. if it isn’t sold by January 19.