Survey finds Congress more Christian than the rest of America

Lawmakers in Congress are overwhelmingly Christian, more even than the America they represent.

Nine out of 10 members the new House and Senate (91%) sworn in Tuesday describe themselves as members of the Christian faith, according to a survey released by Pew Research Center Tuesday.

The percentage of Christians in Congress is higher than the percentage of Americans who identify as Christian. That number has been declining in recent decades. Between the early 1970s and 90s the percentage of Americans who identified as Christian hovered around 90% but by early 2000 it had dropped to around 80%. According to a spokeswoman from Pew, that percentage continues to decrease.

There are just two non-Christian Republicans serving in this year's Congress, New York Rep. Lee Zeldin and Tennessee Rep. David Kustoff, who are Jewish. That means 291 out of 293 Congressional Republicans identify as Christian.

There is slightly more religious diversity on the Democratic side of the aisle, though Democrats are still 80% Christian. Out of 242 Democrats there are 28 Jews, three Buddhists, three Hindus, two Muslims and one Unitarian Universalist.

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Arizona Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is the only member of Congress who describes herself as unaffiliated. Yet, the number of Americans who say they aren't affiliated with a religion is much higher — 23% according to Pew.

There are 10 Democrats who have declined to say what, if any, religion they identify with. All Republicans shared what religion they identified with, Pew said.