When lawmakers formally convene the 118th Congress today, they’ll do so with 97 veterans representing 36 states, the most members with military experience since 2015.
The new session begins with five more veterans than the last Congress, a small increase (up from 17% of members in 2021 to 18% this year) but a significant one. It’s the first time since 1965 the number of veterans has gone up by five or more individuals, and only the fourth time in the last 50 years there has been any increase at all in the total veterans elected.