Faith on the Hill—Religious Composition of 118th Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 3, 2023) – A new Pew Research Center analysis finds that as the U.S. Congress begins its 118th session, it remains largely untouched by two trends that have long marked religious life in the United States: a decades-long decline in the share of Americans who identify as Christian, and a corresponding increase in the percentage who say they have no religious affiliation.

Since 2007, the share of Christians in the general population has dropped from 78% to its present level of 63%. Nearly three-in-ten U.S. adults now say they are religiously unaffiliated, describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” up from 16% who did not identify with a religion 16 years ago. But Christians make up 88% of the voting members of the new 118th Congress being sworn in on Jan. 3 – only a few percentage points lower than the Christian share of Congress in the late 1970s. In the 96th Congress, which was in session in 1979-1980, 91% of members of Congress identified as Christian.

Data in the new analysis covers voting members of Congress sworn in on Jan. 3, 2023. Congressman-elect Donald McEachin of Virginia’s 4th District died before the swearing-in; his seat will go unfilled until a February special election. Therefore, the report includes 534 members of Congress, rather than the full 535.

Only one member of the new Congress – Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, independent of Arizona – identifies as religiously unaffiliated. Another (Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California) describes himself as humanist, and 20 are categorized as having unknown religious affiliations. Most of these members declined to state a religious affiliation when they were asked by CQ Roll Call, which serves as the primary data source for this analysis.

The 469 Christians (out of 534 total members) at the start of the 2023-2024 session comprise – by a smidgen – the lowest number since Pew Research Center began analyzing the religious affiliation of the House and Senate for the 2009-2010 session.

There are 303 Protestants in the new Congress, an increase of six from the previous Congress and the first time in four sessions (since 2015-2016) that the number has topped 300.

The new Congress has 148 Catholics, 10 fewer than the 117th. Still, Catholics make up about 28% of the members of Congress, a greater share than in the U.S. population overall (21%).

The number of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called Mormons) in Congress remained the same (nine). There are eight Orthodox Christians in the 118th Congress.

There is now one member of Congress who identifies as a Messianic Jew – Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a new member from Florida who also has publicly described herself as a Christian.

Sixty-five members of the 118th Congress do not identify as Christian, a slight uptick from 64 in the previous session.

There is general stability in the numbers of members of other non-Christian religious groups. Jews make up a slim majority of the non-Christian members of Congress, and the number of Jews has remained about the same from the 117th session (which had 34 Jewish members) to the 118th (33). Jews continue to make up 6% of the members of Congress, a greater share than they do of the general population (2%).

There are three Muslims – André Carson, D-Ind.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. – and two Hindus (Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D.-Ill.) in the House, all of whom won reelection in 2022. The two Buddhists in Congress, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, also are returning members. Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists all are represented in Congress in about equal proportion to their respective shares of the U.S. population.

These are among the key findings of an analysis by Pew Research Center of CQ Roll Call data on the religious affiliations of members of Congress, gathered through questionnaires and follow-up phone calls to candidates’ and members’ offices. The CQ questionnaire asks members what religious group, if any, they belong to. It does not attempt to measure their religious beliefs or practices. The Pew Research Center analysis compares the religious affiliations of members of Congress with the Center’s survey data on the U.S. public.

To read the report, click here: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2023/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-2023/

For the full list of Congress members and religious affiliation, click here: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2022/12/PF_2023.01.03_congress_LIST.pdf

For more information, please email Achsah Callahan at acallahan@pewresearch.org.

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