There are roughly two dozen doctors in Congress in the 119th Congress (2025–2026), counting every member with a clinical healthcare license. Four are physician-senators, all Republicans, and more than a dozen physician-representatives serve in the House alongside dentists, pharmacists, and nurses. They are a small share of the 535 voting members, but leadership in both parties tends to concentrate them on the committees that write health policy.
Physicians in the Senate
All four physician-senators are Republicans:
- John Barrasso of Wyoming, an orthopedic surgeon
- Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist
- Roger Marshall of Kansas, an obstetrician-gynecologist
- Rand Paul of Kentucky, an ophthalmologist
Cassidy chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Marshall also serves on it. That gives physicians two seats at the table for debates over FDA drug approvals, CDC funding, and NIH research priorities. Cassidy has led a bipartisan working group proposing to fund 5,000 new Medicare-supported medical residency slots between 2027 and 2031.
Physicians in the House
The House contingent is larger and includes members from both parties. Confirmed physician-representatives in the 119th Congress include:
- Ami Bera of California, internal medicine (D)
- Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, general practice (R)
- Maxine Dexter of Oregon, pulmonary and critical care (D)
- Neal Dunn of Florida, urology and Army veteran (R)
- Andy Harris of Maryland, anesthesiology (R)
- Ronny Jackson of Texas, former White House physician (R)
- John Joyce of Pennsylvania, dermatology (R)
- Mike Kennedy of Utah, family medicine and anesthesiology (R)
- Richard McCormick of Georgia, emergency medicine (R)
- Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa, ophthalmology and Army veteran (R)
- Gregory Murphy of North Carolina, urology (R)
- Raul Ruiz of California, emergency medicine (D)
- Kim Schrier of Washington, pediatrics (D)
Dentists, Pharmacists, and Nurses
The clinical ranks in Congress are not limited to physicians. Dentists Brian Babin of Texas and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey serve in the House, as do pharmacists Buddy Carter of Georgia and Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee. Sheri Biggs of South Carolina brings a nursing background. The total count of about two dozen healthcare professionals across both chambers is comparable to the 26 counted in the 118th Congress, though the exact number shifts depending on whether members with brief or long-past clinical careers are included.
Party Breakdown and Specialties
The physician contingent leans heavily Republican. Every physician-senator is a Republican, and Republicans hold a clear majority of physician seats in the House. Democrats contribute a smaller group, most visibly emergency medicine physicians Bera and Ruiz, pediatrician Schrier, and pulmonologist Dexter.
Specialties cluster in fields where practitioners tend to run independent practices or handle significant administrative work. Ophthalmology, urology, and orthopedic surgery show up repeatedly, alongside emergency medicine and primary care. The result is a Congress that hears from members who have billed insurers, managed clinical staff, and made treatment decisions, though the perspective tilts toward specialists in private practice rather than hospitalists or academic researchers.
Where They Sit and What They Work On
Physician-members gravitate to health-focused committees, and leadership tends to place them there deliberately.
House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee
Representatives Neal Dunn, Raul Ruiz, Kim Schrier, and Buddy Carter all sit on this subcommittee, which handles Medicare, Medicaid, prescription drug pricing, and FDA oversight. Pharmacist Diana Harshbarger serves as vice chair.
House Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an ophthalmologist and retired Army colonel, chairs the Health Subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which oversees the VA healthcare system.
Legislation Led by Physician-Members
The Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, reintroduced in May 2025 by Representatives John Joyce and Ami Bera along with Senator Roger Marshall, would require Medicare Advantage plans to adopt electronic prior authorization with standardized decision timelines. The Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025 would expand Medicare-funded training positions, targeting primary care, psychiatry, and rural areas.
The GOP Doctors Caucus
The main organizational vehicle for physician-legislators is the GOP Doctors Caucus, co-chaired in the 119th Congress by Representatives Gregory Murphy and John Joyce. It includes roughly 14 members spanning physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and a nurse. In early 2026, its agendas focused on healthcare price transparency, small independent medical practices, and translational research at the NIH. Historically, the caucus has opposed government-run insurance proposals and pushed for market-based reforms, prior authorization streamlining, and scope-of-practice protections. Democrats have no formal equivalent, though physician-members like Bera, Ruiz, and Schrier often collaborate on health bills and speak for their party during floor debates on clinical topics.
Can Members of Congress Still Practice Medicine?
Members are not barred from holding a medical license, but practicing for pay is sharply restricted. The House Ethics Committee has ruled that physician-members may practice only if the fees they collect do not exceed the actual expenses of maintaining the practice. A member can keep a hand in clinical work but cannot profit from it, and any physician-member who practices for compensation must file an annual accounting with the Ethics Committee.
All members also face an annual cap on outside earned income. For 2026, that cap is $33,855. In practice, most physician-members let their clinical practices go dormant while in office, keeping licensure and board certification current without seeing patients. Some continue limited pro bono or volunteer clinical work, which sits outside the earned income restrictions.
How the Number Has Changed Over Time
Physicians have always been a small slice of Congress, but the count has moved. Between 1983 and 1987, only one physician served in Congress. Numbers rebounded from the late 1990s, hitting a modern peak of 20 physician-members in the 112th and 113th Congresses (2011–2015), a surge that tracked the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Since then, the total has settled into a range of roughly 15 to 20 per Congress. The pattern suggests physicians will remain a small but disproportionately influential minority, concentrated on the committees where their expertise is hardest to replicate.