The 118th Congress kicked off on Jan. 3, but clearing key organizational hurdles has taken significant time, including electing a Speaker of the House and finalizing committee assignments. The 2022 midterm elections produced a Republican majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 2017-2018, while Democrats increased their margin of control in the Senate. This marks the first divided session since 2018-2019. The current makeup—a Republican House and a Democratic Senate—last occurred in the 2013-2014 session. Historically, divided government results in fewer large, sweeping legislative reforms, but more targeted bipartisan bills are sometimes enacted.

PARTISAN LANDSCAPE ...