Thread by @politico

When the 117th Congress is sworn in on Sunday, it will have more women—and more women of color—than any Congress in history.

politico.com/interactives/2…

There will be the most-ever Native American women serving, as well as the first group of Korean-born congresswomen and even the first Iranian American member of any gender.

And those records are, in no small part, because of the success of GOP women politico.com/interactives/2…

The GOP narrowed Democrats’ House majority to the slimmest margin in decades.

Most of the candidates who flipped seats from blue to red were women. Twenty-nine Republican women will serve in the new House, still well behind the 89 Democratic women politi.co/3n7hdpG

Although their party largely rejects any notion of “identity politics,” almost all of the newly elected GOP congresswomen told us they’re proud to be among the largest and most diverse class of female freshmen the Republican Party has ever seen politi.co/3n7hdpG

Congresswomen-elect of both parties suggested that the circumstances of the moment—a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, a likely divided Congress and a record number of women on Capitol Hill—might lend itself to more bipartisanship.

politico.com/interactives/2…

But not everyone is interested in moderation or compromise. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a BLM organizer, spoke of working with a growing band of “unapologetic activists” who will work together to “apply pressure” on even their own party “to push our agenda” politi.co/3n7hdpG

On the other side of the spectrum, Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said, compared to the effort spent pursuing middle-ground measures, “I’m going to fight even harder to make sure this progressive socialist movement ends this term, never to be discussed again” politi.co/3n7hdpG

Whether or not these new members are able to make an institution long plagued by polarization and gridlock govern functionally again remains to be seen. But what we do know is that these women have arrived in Washington, and they’re ready to get to work

politico.com/interactives/2…