116th United States Congress in the context of 99th United States Congress

The Washington, D.C., Admission Act, often referred to simply as the D.C. Admission Act, is a bill introduced during the 116th United States Congress. The bill would grant Washington, D.C., admission into the Union as a state (which would also make it the country's first and only city-state). The bill was originally introduced in the 116th Congress on January 3, 2019, and was reintroduced on January 4, 2021, and January 9, 2023, in the 117th and 118th Congresses. The United States House of Representatives passed it on April 22, 2021.

The 117th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2021, during the final weeks of Donald Trump's first presidency and the first two years of Joe Biden's presidency and ended on January 3, 2023.

The 2020 elections decided control of both chambers. In the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party retained their majority, albeit reduced from the 116th Congress. It was similar in size to the majority held by the Republican Party during the 83rd Congress (1953–1955).

Elections were held in the United States on November 6, 2018. These midterm elections occurred during incumbent Republican president Donald Trump's first term. Although the Republican Party increased its majority in the Senate, Democratic incumbents and challengers vastly outperformed Trump's margin in Republican-leaning states, and unified Republican control of Congress and the White House was brought to an end when the Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives. In what was widely characterized as a "blue wave" election, Democrats also gained governorships, other statewide offices, and state legislative chambers.

Democrats made a net gain of 40 seats in the United States House of Representatives, gaining a majority in the chamber and thereby ending the federal trifecta that the Republican Party had established in the 2016 elections. The Republican Party retained control of the United States Senate, making a net gain of two seats and defeating four Democratic incumbents in states that had voted for Trump in 2016. As a result of the 2018 elections, the 116th United States Congress became the first Congress since the 99th United States Congress (elected in 1984) in which the Democrats controlled the U.S. House of Representatives and the Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate. In state-level elections, Democrats picked up a net of seven governorships and several state legislative seats.

The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2018. The 2018 House elections were midterm elections that occurred during President Donald Trump's first term in office. Early voting took place in some states in the weeks preceding Election Day. Voters chose representatives from all 435 congressional districts across each of the 50 U.S. states to serve in the 116th United States Congress. Prior to the 2018 elections, the Republican Party had held the House majority since January 2011.

Led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Party won control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 elections. The Democrats gained a net total of 41 seats. The 41-seat gain was the Democrats' largest gain of House seats since the post-Watergate 1974 elections, when they picked up 49 seats. Democrats also won the popular vote by an 8.6% margin, the largest margin of victory on record for a minority party.