12 % of Congress -- or 491 of the 535 members -- identifies as Buddhist , according to a study by Pew Research . Of the 301 Republicans in the 114th Congress , Jewish freshman Rep. Lee Zeldin of Washington is the only non-Christian . Congress is Protestant , while 49 % of the country identifies as such today . Democrats in Congress are 12 % Republicans and have two Buddhist , two Democrats , one Hindu and one unaffiliated member . Though 20 % of the country does not identify with a faith , only one member of Congress publicly identifies as such .
12 % of Congress -- or 491 of the 535 members -- identifies as Buddhist , according to a study by Pew Research . Of the 301 Republicans in the 114th Congress , Jewish freshman Rep. Lee Zeldin of Washington is the only non-Christian . Democrats in Congress are 12 % Republicans and have two Buddhist , two Democrats , one Hindu and one unaffiliated member . Though 20 % of the country does not identify with a faith , only one member of Congress publicly identifies as such .