The composition of U.S. Congress now looks quite different, following Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony.
A record number of women — 102 — were sworn into the U.S. Congress Thursday afternoon. And several of them broke additional barriers, becoming the first of their ethnic or religious background to be elected to the House of Representatives.
WATCH: Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and her father share tearful moment
Newly elected lawmakers arrived, often with friends and families in tow, to take the oath of office and pose for ceremonial photos.
Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar is the first Somali-American member of Congress. She is also the first woman to wear a hijab inside Congress.
WATCH: First Somali-American member of Congress sworn in
She tweeted a picture with her family at the airport Wednesday, writing, “23 years ago, from a refugee camp in Kenya, my father and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC. Today, we return to that same airport on the eve of my swearing in as the first Somali-American in Congress.”
Omar and Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib became the first Muslim women to be elected in Congress in November.
WATCH: The 116th swearing in of Congress is the most historic yet – here’s why
Native Americans also transcended barriers in the midterm elections with Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland.
Davids is a former MMA fighter, a lawyer, and now the first openly gay female member of Congress. She was elected in Kansas. Haaland, of New Mexico, joins Davids as the first two Native American women elected to Congress.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 29, won New York’s 14th congressional district, becoming the youngest women ever to be elected to Congress.
WATCH: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, youngest women ever to be elected to Congress, sworn in
And the wins for women didn’t stop there.
Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia, both Hispanic women from Texas, were also sworn in.
WATCH: Newly elected members of U.S. Congress pose for ‘class photo’
Connecticut and Massachusetts saw black women — Jahana Hayes and Ayanna Pressley respectively — become their congresswomen for the first time.
Nancy Pelosi, who is a veteran in Congress, also made history once again.
Pelosi was elected as House Speaker, the only woman who has held the office and now one of few elected officials who will be returning to it. The last time a speaker regained the gavel was more than a half-century ago.
The women’s historic wins were widely celebrated last year, especially among Democrats who won control of the House. The Democrats now have 235 representatives and the Republicans have 199.
The Republican side in the House is still made up mostly of white men, and in the Senate Republicans bolstered their ranks in the majority.
The women have banded together several times since being elected, promising to bring change to U.S. politics.
A day before the swearing-in ceremony, Omar posted a photo of them together, writing: “They ain’t ready.”
Congress has its work cut out for it.
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It’s the first new Congress to convene amid a partial government shutdown, now in its 13th day over Trump’s demands for money for a wall along the U.S-Mexico border.
The Democrats planned to quickly pass legislation to re-open the government, but without the funding Trump is demanding for his promised border wall.
— With files from The Associated Press
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