NEWS AND OPINION:
As the 119th Congress gets underway, some meticulous new research from the Pew Research Center reveals that Christians will make up 87% of voting members in the Senate and House of Representatives in the 2025-27 congressional session.
“That’s down from 88% in the last session and 92% a decade ago,” the research said.
“Overall, there will be 461 Christian members of Congress when the 119th Congress meets, compared with 469 in the previous Congress and 491 during the 2015-17 session. It will be the lowest number of Christians since the start of the 2009-2011 congressional session, the first for which Pew Research Center conducted this analysis,” wrote Jeff Diamant, a writer and editor with Pew who focuses on religion.
“And yet, at 87%, Christians still make up the lion’s share of the Congress, far exceeding the Christian share of all U.S. adults, which stands at 62% after several decades of decline. In 2007, 78% of American adults were Christian, according to Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study from that year, and in the early 1960s more than nine-in-ten U.S. adults were Christian, according to historical Gallup polling,” Mr. Diamant said.
“The new Congress is also more religious than the general population by another, related measure: Nearly three-in-ten Americans (28%) are religiously unaffiliated, meaning they are atheist or agnostic or say their religion is ’nothing in particular.’ But less than 1% of Congress falls into this category, with three religiously unaffiliated members: incoming Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Emily Randall of Washington, both of whom are Democrats, and incoming Rep. Abraham Hamadeh of Arizona, a Republican,” he said.
The analysis is based on data from CQ Roll Call, a publisher in Washington that covers Congress. Find the study — titled “Faith on the Hill” — at pewresearch.org.
UPDATE: MARCH FOR LIFE
The 52nd annual March for Life takes place on the National Wall on Jan. 24. The 11 speakers who will address the crowd will include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; Rep. Chris Smith, New Jersey Republican; and Jennie Bradley Lichter, president-elect of the March for Life.
“This year’s theme, ‘Life: Why we March’ focuses on returning to our roots to acknowledge the humanity of each person, while also highlighting the need to protect and support both mother and child through the thousands of resources available to them. Our goal this year is to remind and reignite everyone — politicians, legislators, families, and women — in the truth that every life, unborn and born, has inherent dignity, meaning, and value, and as such is always worth fighting for,” the organization said in a written statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
“Our speakers will serve as witnesses to emphasize the joy and beauty of life, and the dedication of the pro-life movement,” the organization said in a statement shared with Inside the Beltway.
Find details of the event — which organizers say is “the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration” — at MarchforLife.org.
ADDRESSING CYBERSECURITY
“The Biden administration is planning to soon release a swan song cybersecurity executive order that would direct agencies to conform to stricter software procurement procedures, fasten detection response tools onto federal computer systems and much more,” said NextGov.com in a report released Thursday.
The news organization — which focuses on the “intersection” of technology and the federal government, according to a mission statement — obtained a draft copy of the order.
“The document, which has been in the works for months, is expected to be signed Friday or early next week, according to people familiar with the matter. It builds on cyber lessons learned throughout the Biden administration following the signing of a flagship executive order in 2021 that was fueled by the well-storied Colonial Pipeline and SolarWinds hacks,” the report said.
“As written, the draft order directs agencies and their industry clients to think harder about where they get their software and how their softwares’ security is vetted,” it said.
“Under the order, the government would be required to procure devices that have the newly unveiled Cyber Trust Mark certification label by 2027. The mark is designed to inform consumers that applicable products meet certain government-vetted cybersecurity standards,” the report also said.
WEEKEND REAL ESTATE
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POLL DU JOUR
• 60% of adults in 36 nations believe that “rich people having too much political influence in their country” contributes to economic inequality.
• 57% of these adults expect children in their country to be “worse off financially than their parents.”
• 54% say the gap between rich and poor is a “big problem” in their country.
• 52% think their country needs “major changes” in its economic system.
• 20% think their country’s economic system needs “minor changes or no changes.”
• 20% think their economic system needs “complete reform.”
SOURCE: A Pew Research Center “Global Attitudes Survey” of 41,503 adults in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia and Turkey. The survey was conducted from Jan. 5 to May 22, 2024, by phone, in person and online, and was released Thursday.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin. Contact her at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.