The 118th Congress, and a whole new class of freshmen House members, are set to be sworn in once Republicans settle their intra-party debate over who should serve as speaker.
Here's a look at some of the characteristics of this new group of soon-to-be members of Congress (including Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who had previously served one term from 2015-2017).
Women help set new record
Of the 74 new members of the House, 22 are women. These new women lawmakers have contributed to a record number of 149 women — 107 Democrats and 42 Republicans — in the House for the 118 Congress. That just barely breaks the record number of 147 women from the previous Congress.
Of the new women lawmakers, 15 are Democrats and seven are Republicans. Some women broke barriers with their elections, including Vermont Democrat Becca Balint, who is the first woman and first LGBTQ person to represent the Green Mountain State in either chamber of Congress.
Freshmen adding to diversity of Congress
The new members of Congress will also be adding to the House's diversity. Fourteen of the new members are Hispanic or Latino, 11 are Black and two are Asian, including one lawmaker who is Indian.
Oregon’s Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a Republican and Andrea Salinas, a Democrat, are their state’s first Hispanic members of Congress.
From different backgrounds
The new members have a variety of different backgrounds, including the fact that 58 ran for Congress this cycle for their first time.
Nineteen of the 74 new members are veterans and three served in former President Donald Trump's administration.
They also come from a slew of professional experiences, including state legislatures and other elected office, political activism (Florida Republican Ana Paulina Luna worked for Turning Point USA, while Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost organized for March for Our Lives), statewide office (Florida Republican Laurel Lee served as the state's secretary of state) and more (Washington Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez owns an auto repair shop).
Trump looms large over Republicans
Trump's sway in the party can be seen amongst the 40 new House Republicans, not just with the three who served in his administration.
The former president endorsed 16 of the new members in either their primary or general elections. And 19 of the new Republicans questioned or cast doubt on President Joe Biden's 2020 election.
UPDATE (Jan. 4 at 10:30 a.m.): This story was updated to note that Republicans could not decide on a Speaker of the House by Tuesday.
