It’s official: A record-breaking number of women have been sworn into the 116th Congress, which also boasts one of the most diverse classes ever.
It’s a class filled with firsts — from the youngest women ever to serve in Congress to the first Muslim-American women to the first Native American women. Massachusetts and Connecticut have both elected their first African-American representatives. And states such as Tennessee and Arizona sent women to the Senate for the first time.
All told, there will be 127 women serving in Congress this term — 25 in the Senate and 102 in the House — massive gains that follow a huge midterm election for women candidates. (The previous records were 23 women in the Senate and 85 women in the House.)
While lawmakers are still muddling their way through a seemingly intractable shutdown impasse, the new members of the 116th Congress represent a sign that some things in the Capitol are changing for the better.
Watch as Nancy Pelosi retakes the gavel for House speaker and a historic new class of Congress members is sworn in:
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62777238/GettyImages_1064857090_toned.0.jpg)
