Since the military switched from conscription to an all volunteer force, veteran representation in Congress has greatly decreased. In the most recent Congress, veteran representation is only 17% across all branches. This is the lowest number of veterans in a single Congress. The 117th Congress, serving from 2021-2022, contains 91 veterans—48% less than that of the 95th Congress, which served from 1977-1979 and had a record high number of veterans.
Dive into this data using our new interactive dashboard
The number of veterans currently serving in Congress is significantly higher in the Republican Party, with 63 veterans to the Democratic Party’s 28. The veteran population in Congress also skews male; only 6 out of the 91 current veterans are women (a decrease by 1 from the last Congress.) The Army is the most represented branch with 44 former members.
Texas currently has the greatest number of veterans serving in Congress. The other states may soon follow suit, as about 27% of members of Congress under 45 years old served in the military—a much larger proportion than other age demographics. To view the veterans in Congress by state and find more information, see Janis Chen’s interactive map here.
