We need your support as we enter a new year with a new congress.
By Jonathan Pearson
Congratulations to Returned Peace Corps Volunteer John Garamendi (RPCV Ethiopia 1966–68), who was elected to serve his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives, winning nearly 75% of the vote in northern California’s 8th Congressional District. Garamendi is the only RPCV currently serving in congress.
At Least 70 New Members
In the House of Representatives, 66 new members (34 Democrats, 32 Republicans) will be sworn into office in January. This includes a handful of lawmakers who joined the House late in 2024, due to member resignations or deaths. House Republicans will remain in the majority, retaining a slim margin over Democrats.
In the Senate, Republicans have secured the majority. Republicans will hold 53 seats in the Senate. Twelve new Senators will be sworn into office in January. This includes six Democrats, five of whom were previously serving in the House, and six Republicans, two of whom were previously serving in the House.
While final decisions on committee assignments won’t be made until early next year, the makeup of both the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee have the potential to remain relatively stable, with between 3 and 4 seats opening up on these committees due to retirements or election defeats. A similar change will occur within the Senate Appropriations Committee, while the House Appropriations Committee will have at least ten seats opening up due to retirements or election defeats.
Key Departures
A number of very strong Peace Corps supporters will not be serving next January, when the new 119th Congress is gaveled into session.
While several of these members lost re-election bids, most of the departing Peace Corps supporters decided to retire from their office. These members included:
- Representative Garret Graves (R-LA), who served with Representative Garamendi as co-chair of the House Peace Corps Caucus
- Representative Kay Granger (R-TX), the former chair of the House Appropriations Committee
- Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations subcommittee responsible for Peace Corps funding (Rep. Lee lost a primary election for an open Senate seat)
- Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), the outgoing Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
2024 is Not Yet Over…We Need You
As NPCA prepares to engage with a second Trump administration and the new congress, the work of the current (118th) session of Congress is not over!
There are still significant opportunities to secure a funding increase for the Peace Corps and pass very important Peace Corps legislation. We need at least 20,000 messages to Congress now, starting with this action to urge lawmakers to support the Senate recommended increase in Peace Corps funding in Fiscal Year 2025.
Photo Caption: L to R: Retiring Congressman Garret Graves, NPCA President Dan Baker, and RPCV Congressman John Garamendi at NPCA’s Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, March 2024