Meet the new senators being sworn in to Congress in 2025

Washington — The Senate is convening as the 119th Congress gets underway on Friday, as a dozen new senators join the ranks of the Capitol’s upper chamber. 

With some coming from humble beginnings and others with decades in politics, the new Senate class features four Democrats and six Republicans hailing from Arizona to Pennsylvania. Two other Democrats were sworn in late last year following the early resignation of their predecessors.

Here’s what to know about the 12 new senators hoping to make their mark in Washington:

Jim Banks 

Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican, has served in the House since 2017. The 45-year-old Afghanistan War veteran and father of three is replacing former Sen. Mike Braun.

Banks spent his early years in a trailer park and was the first in his family to go to college. On the day he was elected to the Senate, Banks said he took a nostalgic walk to the trailer park, where Trump signs lined the street. 

“When I grew up, those were Democrat voters,” Banks told CBS News. “Today they’re Trump voters, and they’re expecting us to save this country.”

Banks has pushed for pro-worker policies in Congress and said Trump “has completely transformed the party” by bringing in working-class voters. But he acknowledged that there’s still room for the party to grow and cement that base.
 
The Indiana Republican said his party has a mandate to extend Trump’s expiring tax cuts, address border security and the drug epidemic. He said he sees opportunity to work across the aisle on issues like vocational education, Pell grants for trade schools and addressing threats from China. 

Andy Kim

Andy Kim held national security roles in the Bush and Obama administrations and has represented New Jersey in the House since 2019. But the 42-year-old father of two said he never thought he would run for office.

“I became a father in 2015, and all of a sudden, I couldn’t just live in my bubble and only focus on foreign policy,” the New Jersey Democrat told CBS News.

Then, when Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez was indicted on bribery and corruption charges, Kim said he decided he had “had enough” of disappointment in politics, and jumped into the race against him. Kim said restoring trust with voters is among his top priorities. 

When it comes to working across the aisle, Kim identified a number of issues where he hopes to find bipartisanship, including the opioid crisis, investments in AI and youth mental health.

The son of South Korean immigrants, Kim is the first Korean-American senator in history — a milestone that Kim said is “powerful,” but not a barrier he “set out to break.”

He noted that this year marks 50 since his parents immigrated from South Korea. “I’m really proud, and I’m grateful to America that on our 50th anniversary in this country, that I can become a United States senator,” Kim said.

John Curtis

John Curtis, the former mayor of Provo, Utah, has represented the Beehive State in the House since 2017. He’s now replacing Sen. Mitt Romney, but has made clear that he isn’t his predecessor. 

“From the moment I jumped into this race, people have wanted to know,” Curtis said in an interview. “And I always just smile and I say, ‘Look, if you expect me to be Mitt Romney, I’m going to disappoint you, and if you expect me to be (Utah Sen.) Mike Lee, I’m going to disappoint you. I’m uniquely my own person.”

Curtis, 64 and a father of six, said that he wants to be supportive of Trump’s agenda, but won’t shy away from speaking out if he disagrees. 

“I want to be seen as the wind at the president’s back and helping him be successful,” Curtis said. “I’ve also been clear that there may be a time when I disagree with the president, and I think I owe it to the president to speak out.”

Curtis outlined priorities including energy and permitting reform, public lands, reining in the deficit and focusing on foreign relations. When it comes to working across the aisle, Curtis said he expects to find common ground with Democrats, citing permitting reform as “a really good example of a place where we can use some good legislation.” 

Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff represented California in the House for more than two decades. He rose to national prominence when he served as lead prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment trial, a role that earned him the ire of Trump and the GOP.

Schiff told CBS News he’s focused on delivering for Californians in the Senate — whether that means working across party lines or coming to the state’s defense.

“Californians are expecting me to both work constructively to deliver, but also at the same time, stand up to the president when it’s necessary to do so,” he said. “And I’m going to do both.”

Schiff, 64, said he’s focus is on the “bread and butter issues” affecting his constituents, including housing costs, homelessness, public safety and health care. He said he’s already had conversations with Republicans about working on rural health care and housing, and that he’s been “very pleased with how receptive Republican senators have been to working together.”

Schiff is replacing Sen. Laphonza Butler, who filled the seat vacated by Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death in 2023. Schiff acknowledged Feinstein’s “incredible legacy” and said he hopes to “emulate the way that she met with stakeholders on both sides of an issue, got to know leaders up and down the state of California, and worked across party lines to try to deliver on some of the toughest issues facing the state.” 

Schiff and Kim were the two Democrats who were sworn in last month to give them a head start on seniority in the new Congress.

Tim Sheehy

Tim Sheehy is a 39-year-old former Navy SEAL and founder of an aerial firefighting company. He’s replacing Jon Tester in the Senate, after defeating the long-serving Democrat in the Big Sky State in a key win for Republicans. 

Sheehy told CBS News that for him and his wife, a Marine, the military “really defined” their young adulthood, and the veteran community became a key part of their life after their service. When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan, that military background served as a springboard to politics.  

“It was the first time I said, ‘I’m getting involved in the political landscape, because I just watched 20 years of sacrifice, of me, my friends, my family, just get washed away for no good reason,'” Sheehy said. 

A father of four, Sheehy touts Trump’s “America First” agenda among his priorities in the Senate. He said that every decision should be made through the lens of what’s best for the country’s economy, its national security and its people.

“In Montana, that means common sense,” Sheehy said. “That means they want a secure border, safe streets, cheap gas. Cops are good, criminals are bad, boys are boys, girls are girls. And that’s really what they voted for, and that’s what they expect us to deliver.”

Still, Sheehy said he’s open to working with Democrats, and that “working across the aisle isn’t a bad thing.” One area where he’s willing to find common ground is on fighting wildfires, and he said he’s already had positive discussions with Democrats.

Ruben Gallego

Ruben Gallego, who was first elected to represent Arizona in the House in 2014, is replacing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate. 

The 45-year-old said in an interview with CBS News that he grew up in a disadvantaged community and slept on the floor until he went to college. He said he saw “way too much combat” as a Marine in Iraq and decided to get involved in politics after he came home. 

Gallego said he “came back a little messed up with PTSD” and saw the challenges veterans were facing.

“That motivated me to really start, you know, advocating for veterans and get involved in politics to make sure that they were taken care of, and that kind of has evolved ever since then,” he added.

The Arizona Democrat said there’s “just no denying that there’s a problem at the border,” and is pushing for more Border Patrol officers and technology. But he acknowledged “that Arizona is a rich state because of border trade.” He also highlighted water security, the cost of living and housing prices as key priorities.

Gallego pointed to former Sen. John McCain as a legislator he admires, saying he is “very much aligned” with the late Republican’s approach to national security and Native American issues.

Bernie Moreno

Bernie Moreno, a 57-year-old businessman who built a car dealership empire, is replacing Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown. Moreno, a Republican, ousted the incumbent in a key win that helped deliver the GOP the majority in the Senate in November.  

Moreno was born in Colombia and came to the U.S. at a young age. In his acceptance speech, he said his parents didn’t know “what America would mean to them” or their children. But they came to the U.S. anyway, “because they knew that in America,” dreams and ideas are possible “if you’re willing to work hard enough and persevere.” 

A father of four, Moreno has also touted Trump’s “America First” agenda, saying a “new dawn of Republican leadership” is on the horizon. He has made enhancing border security a priority, saying that the U.S. should be “pro-immigration, but not pro-invasion.”

Elissa Slotkin

Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, has represented her Michigan district in the House since 2019 and is replacing long-serving Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the Senate.

Slotkin is a former CIA officer who worked in national security roles in both the Bush and Obama administrations. She’s known for her work across the aisle and has pledged to bring her bipartisan approach to the upper chamber. After the election, she said in a speech that her priorities in the Senate include gun violence, opioid and drug addiction, mental health issues and reproductive rights. 

Slotkin said her “core decision to run” was based in the belief that Michigan must continue to be a place where anyone can enter the middle class, calling it the “existential issue of our time.”

The Michigan Democrat acknowledged that the state elected her — and Trump — and pledged to get things done for her constituents. But she said, when it comes to the “fundamental issues of democracy, our rights, our systems of checks and balances, I will not give an inch.”

Angela Alsobrooks

Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, a former prosecutor and county executive, is replacing Sen. Ben Cardin in the upper chamber, making history as the first Black senator from Maryland.

Alsobrooks and incoming Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester will be the fourth and fifth Black women to ever serve in the Senate. She acknowledged the barrier-breaking moment during her victory speech in November, with the nation approaching its 250th anniversary.

“In all those years, there have been more than 2,000 people who have served in the United States Senate,” said Alsobrooks, 53. “And only three have looked like me.”

Lisa Blunt Rochester

Blunt Rochester, 62, has represented Delaware in the House since 2017. In a speech on the House floor last month, she said she ran for Congress after the unexpected death of her husband, which she said “shook me to the core.”

“But then I ran into a father in front of me in the grocery store who had to put back grapes because they were $9,” Blunt Rochester continued. “And in that moment, I realized I was still alive and I had more to give.”

A mother of two, the Delaware Democrat became the first woman and person of color to represent Delaware in Congress, and has touted her work across the aisle to help support families, lower costs and protect national security.

Blunt Rochester is replacing Sen. Tom Carper, who retired after more than two decades in the upper chamber. She paid homage to her predecessor in the House floor speech, recalling how she first interned for Carper in 1988.

“From intern to case worker, Cabinet member, colleague and now his successor, building on his incredible legacy fills me with great pride,” Blunt Rochester said.

Dave McCormick

Dave McCormick, a combat veteran and former chief executive of a major hedge fund, defeated Bob Casey to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate, flipping the seat in a closely watched election.

The 59-year-old father of six touted the president-elect’s agenda during his acceptance speech in November, saying that the country needs change and leadership to get the nation “back on track.” He cited addressing inflation, border security, crime and embracing American energy as his priorities. 

He said pursuing his agenda will be a “team sport” while pledging to work with Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor and Democrats in the Senate.

Jim Justice

Jim Justice, the outgoing Republican governor of West Virginia, is replacing Sen. Joe Manchin in the Senate. Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent, declined to seek reelection, dashing Democrats’ hopes of retaining the seat in the red state.

The 73-year-old father of two is often accompanied by his English bulldog named Babydog, who joined him on stage at the Republican National Convention in July.

The West Virginia Republican is expected to officially join the Senate later in the month, opting to remain as governor until his successor is sworn in on Jan. 13.