Women and the 117th U. S. Congress (convenes 3 January 2021)
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Graph from Represent Women |
In 2020, 126 (105D, 21R) women hold seats in the United States Congress, comprising 23.6% of the 535 members; 25 women (25%) serve in the U.S. Senate, and 101 women (23.2%) serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Four women non-voting delegates (2D, 2R) also represent American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the United States House of Representatives.
As a 3 January 2021 CAWP press release makes clear, these figures will change:
• Senator Kamala Harris (D) will be sworn in as vice president on January 20th.
• Representative Marcia Fudge (D) has been selected to serve in the Cabinet as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
• Representative Deb Haaland (D) has been selected to serve in the Cabinet as Secretary of the Interior.
• Senator Kelly Loeffler (R) is in a runoff election on January 5th.
• The House race in NY-22, featuring Claudia Tenney (R), is undecided.
• Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R) will be provisionally seated while the House race in IA-02 is under review by the U.S. House Committee on Administration. Miller-Meeks’ opponent – Rita Hart (D) – has petitioned for the review. . . .
Counts below do not include 4 (2D, 2R) women who will serve as non-voting delegates in the 117th Congress.
So, the good news. A total (so far) of 144 women will serve in the 117th U. S. Congress, which "surpasses the previous record of 127 . . . set in 2019."
But if you're a reader of this blog, you will know that I am never satisfied. So the bad news: that new record of 144 women is still pitiful--that represents only 26.9% of all members of the U. S. Congress.
For previous posts on women in the U. S. Congress, click on the label, below.