Pew Study: Christians Overrepresented in Congress

Nearly 90 percent of Congress identifies as Christian, according to a new report, a number that is significantly higher than the makeup of the United States.

Key results in the Pew Research Center study:

• 88.2 percent of the newly installed Congress is Christian, compared to 71 percent of U.S. adults who claim to be.
• Protestants make up the majority of those Christians, as 54.9 percent of them identify as such. 48 percent of U.S. adults are Protestant.
• 30.5 percent of Congress and 21 percent of U.S. adults are Catholic.
• 6.4 percent of Congress and 2 percent of U.S. adults are Jewish.
• 0.6 percent of Congress and 1 percent of U.S. adults are Muslim.
• 0.2 percent of Congress identifies as religiously unaffiliated, compared to 23 percent of U.S. adults.

The new Congress was sworn in Thursday, and it includes the first two Muslim women to serve in the chamber — Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

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