US Congress, 1946 to 2026

Congress since 1946

The party holding the White House lost House seats in 18 of the 20 midterms since 1946

Congress is two chambers: the House of Representatives, whose 435 voting seats are all elected every two years, and the Senate, whose 100 seats are elected a third at a time. A midterm is the election held halfway through a president's term.

Democrats held the House for 26 and the Senate for 26 of the 40 Congresses elected from 1946 to 2024, including an unbroken 40-year run in the House from 1955 to 1995. In midterms, the president's party gained House seats only twice: Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W. Bush in 2002.

Results of the 2026 midterm are provisional until they are certified. Every 2026 figure on the dashboard is marked until then.

Data as of

What the data shows

  1. One party held the presidency, House and Senate in 16 of 40 Congresses since 1947; Democrats had the longest stretch, from 1961 to 1969

    The history chart shows every Congress. The railway at the top of the dashboard colours each election from 2000 by the majority party.

    Every Congress since 1947, House above Senate

  2. Women held 28.2% of seats in Congress in 2025, up from 1.4% in 1947

    Share of members of the House and Senate who were women, by Congress, 1947 to 2025. One figure is 1% of members.

    1. 19471.4%
    2. 19553.1%
    3. 19632.5%
    4. 19712.7%
    5. 19793.1%
    6. 19874.8%
    7. 199510.5%
    8. 200313.7%
    9. 201117%
    10. 201923.5%
    11. 202528.2%

    Source: unitedstates/congress-legislators (public domain). Members who served at any point in each Congress, House and Senate together; delegates excluded.Data as of

  3. The party holding the White House lost House seats in 18 of the 20 midterms from 1946 to 2022

    The midterm chart gives the seat change for each election. The dashboard opens on 2022, the latest certified midterm.

    House midterms, 2022 outlined

  4. The party holding the White House lost Senate seats in 13 of the 20 midterms from 1946 to 2022

    Senate counts before each midterm are from election day, and counts after are from the opening of the new Congress.

    Senate midterms, 2022 outlined

  5. 9 Senate seats changed party in 2014, the most of any election from 2000 to 2024

    A seat counts as flipped when it passes from one caucus to the other, compared with whoever held it on election day.

    Senate flips by election, 2014 outlined

  6. Republicans took the Senate in 2024, flipping 4 seats

    The map starts in 2000. Select a state on it for every Senate race and House delegation since.

    The Senate map in 2024

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