--- title: Congress Has More Black Lawmakers than Ever Before description: Including the first black female Republican elected to the House canonical: https://time.com/3655532/congress-african-american/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-06T14:36:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:27.048Z article:section: Politics og:title: Congress Has More Black Lawmakers than Ever Before og:description: Including the first black female Republican elected to the House og:url: https://time.com/3655532/congress-african-american/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc31d1e5174043d6/6987784c2dce01a92d9dcc85/mia-love-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Mia Love Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Congress Has More Black Lawmakers than Ever Before twitter:description: Including the first black female Republican elected to the House twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc31d1e5174043d6/6987784c2dce01a92d9dcc85/mia-love-congress.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Congress Now Has More Black Lawmakers than Ever Before > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ed0a0166-63c9-4b00-9f21-ae6e1fdaaa39&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Brief: Meet Congress' Diverse Freshman Class [Watch (HLS stream): The Brief: Meet Congress' Diverse Freshman Class](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LiBD5dRh.m3u8) (1:46)  _Published 2015-01-06. Take a look at the most diverse congress in history with #TheBrief_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 6, 2015 2:36 PM UTC Take a look at the most diverse congress in history with #TheBrief by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jan 6, 2015 2:36 PM UTC With the swearing in of the 114th Congress on Tuesday, there will be more African Americans in the legislature than in any other period in history. The Congressional Black Caucus is set to have its largest caucus in history with 46 total members including Rep. Mia Love of Utah, the first African American female Republican elected to Congress, and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). Though the first black Congressional members were elected in the late 1800s, there were fewer than ten in every session until the 1970s. In the 91st Congress (1969-71), the number of African Americans serving finally topped 20\. Over the past two decades, the number of black members has remained between 39 and 44, according to the [Congressional Research Service](http://www.senate.gov/CRSReports/crs-publish.cfm?pid='0E%2C%2APLW%3C%20P%20%20%0A). In 2015, however, Congress will be home to 44 black representatives, plus two Senators and two non-voting delegates to the House, bringing the total number of black legislators to 48. Congress remains unrepresentative of the nation as a whole, however, where only[ 63% of the population is white and a little more than half of all citizens are women](http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html). Now, some 18% of the nation’s federal lawmakers now are racial minorities and 20% are women. Congress is also majority [Christian](http://time.com/3653951/congress-religious-breakdown/), with only one member serving who is religiously unaffiliated–in the U.S., about 1 in 5 adults identifies as such. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Congress is swearing in the most diverse group of lawmakers in U. S. history. And they've got some big issues to fight over. I'm Ben Goldberger. And this is your Brief. Meet your new class of legislators. The House has 58 incoming freshmen, and most of them are Republican. In fact, 246 are members of the grand old party. That's the most in the House since the Great Depression. There are also 104 women, a record number. And diversity is increasing, if slowly. 100 members of the new Congress are African- American, Asian, Native American or Hispanic. Mia Love, republican from Utah, will be the first black woman from her party in Congress. I was elected by my district to make sure that we get the decision making back in their hands. And 30- year old Elise Stefanik is the youngest woman ever elected. President Obama may be launching millennial initiative. But he's letting us down it terms of the debt he's racked on for future generations. Which is actually one of several new millennials on the hill. Among their goals are lowering the cost of education, but education won't be the first priority or even the second. The first order of business for the new Republican majority will be to pass the Keystone pipeline. [ MUSIC ] That should be easier than the rest of the agenda, which includes scaling back Democratic reforms on energy, health care, and immigration. And the new class still needs to contend with an old number, 15 %. That's Congress' approval rating. I'm Ben Goldberger, and you've been briefed. 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