Which party controls Congress? Which, the White House? The answer reveals the “balance of power” in the two branches of government that have elected officials (Congress and the White House). [Jump to chart]

Americans seem to prefer that the checks-and-balances envisioned by the founders be facilitated by having different parties control Congress and the White House.

Contrary to popular belief, most of the time (in modern political history, post 1945) Congress and the President are at odds ; that is, most of the time the same political party does not control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.

; that is, most of the time the same political party does not control the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Congress has usually been controlled by the same party (post WWII) with the “odd man out” being, literally, the President. Only 16 times (32 years) since 1945 have both branches of Congress and the Presidency been controlled by the same party; the Democrats have held this advantage more often than Republicans (11 to 4). However, it has happened four times (8 years) since 2003, making this seem more common that it has been, historically (Republicans, three times). Prior to WWII, having House, Senate and White House controlled by the same party was the norm.

Only 16 times (32 years) since 1945 have both branches of Congress and the Presidency been controlled by the same party; the Democrats have held this advantage more often than Republicans (11 to 4). However, it has happened four times (8 years) since 2003, making this seem more common that it has been, historically (Republicans, three times). Prior to WWII, having House, Senate and White House controlled by the same party was the norm. Since 1945, the House and Senate have been controlled by different parties only six times (12 years). The first three (in succession) were under Reagan (1981-1986). The other three have been since the 2000 elections, which makes this “seem” more normal to us than it is, historically. From 1901-1945, this happened only twice.

And there have been only two complete turn-overs of Congress since 1949: one in 1995 and the other in 2007.

Demographics

When the 115th Congress convened January 3, 2017, it had 21 women in the Senate and 83 women in the House. Four of the new female Democrats are minorities:

These four members join Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI), who became the first Asian-American woman to gain a seat in the chamber in 2012, and will bring the total number of minority women in the Senate to four.

Women account for 50.8% of the US population but only 21% of the US Senate and 19% of the House. We rank 99th out of 193 countries in terms of women’s parliamentary representation.

Demographics: age

The average age of members of the 114th Congress was slightly younger than in recent history:

114th Congress (2015-2016): 57.0 years for Representatives and 61.0 years for Senators

111th Congress (2009-2010): 57.2 years for Representatives and 63.1 years for Senators

U.S. Representatives must be at least 25 years old when they assume office (January following the November even-year election). Senators must be at least 30 years old. (CRS report)