Short answers, pulled from the story.
The United States Congress convened for its first session in 1789 within a building that later became known as the Capitol. This bicameral legislature replaced the earlier Congress of the Confederation which had struggled with weak authority and an inability to collect taxes or regulate commerce.
A total of 535 voting members make up the United States Congress including 100 senators and 435 representatives. Six additional non-voting members represent territories like Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 fixed the number of representatives at 435 based on population counts from the decennial census.
House candidates must be at least 25 years old and citizens for seven years while Senators must be at least 30 years old and citizens for nine years. These specific age and citizenship requirements apply before taking office in either chamber of the United States Congress.
Carol Moseley Braun became the first woman of color to reach the Senate in 1993 within the United States Congress. Mazie Hirono won her seat in 2013 becoming the second woman of color senator and Kamala Harris made history in 2021 as both the first female Vice President and first female President of the Senate.
Approval ratings for the United States Congress dropped to just 5 percent in October 2013 following a government shutdown. Public opinion polls asking if people approve of congressional work have hovered around 25 percent over recent decades with only nine percent expressing confidence in legislators by 2006.