How many current U.S. senators and representatives hold dual citizenship?
Executive summary
Available reporting and public records show no comprehensive, government-maintained count of how many current U.S. senators or representatives hold dual citizenship; multiple sources note the U.S. does not track dual citizens and only estimate how many Americans overall might be eligible for foreign citizenship (estimates sometimes cited above 40 million) [1] [2]. News coverage of recent bills and proposals targeting dual-citizenship disclosure or bans names specific lawmakers who are foreign-born or have in the past held foreign nationality, but none of the provided sources provide a definitive, up-to-date tally of current members of Congress who hold dual citizenship [3] [4].
1. No official registry — the central factual obstacle
The U.S. federal government does not maintain a registry of dual citizens, and reporters and lawmakers repeatedly point to that gap when discussing how many Americans — including officeholders — hold more than one passport; Forbes and The Hill explicitly state the government lacks comprehensive statistics on dual citizens [1] [2]. That absence means any precise count of members of Congress with dual nationality cannot be produced from official records alone [1].
2. Proposals and politics have pushed the question into the open
Recent legislative activity has made dual-citizenship status a subject of public debate: Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno introduced the “Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025” to outlaw dual citizenship for Americans, while Rep. Thomas Massie introduced a disclosure bill that would force candidates to reveal foreign citizenship [5] [6]. Those proposals aim either to eliminate dual nationality or to increase transparency, and both presuppose that some members of Congress do, in fact, hold foreign citizenship — but neither bill produces a verified list of such lawmakers [5] [6].
3. Known foreign‑born members are not the same as dual citizens
Multiple sources list foreign-born members of Congress (or note that some prominent officeholders were naturalized), but being born abroad does not automatically mean a current U.S. lawmaker holds dual nationality today; naturalization and transmission-of-citizenship rules vary and many foreign‑born officials have renounced other nationalities or never held them concurrently [7] [8]. Snopes explains that officials are required to be U.S. citizens but are not required to disclose additional citizenships, which complicates any external attempt to count dual nationals in office [4].
4. Estimates and anecdotes exist — but they conflict and are incomplete
News outlets and opinion sites frequently cite small lists or historical examples (for instance, senators born overseas such as Tammy Duckworth or Mazie Hirono), and commentators sometimes claim “a surprising number” of officials hold dual citizenship, but such claims are inconsistent and rarely backed by systematic data [9] [10]. The Hill and Newsweek note large national estimates of people eligible for foreign citizenship (figures above 40 million are repeated), but those headline numbers are about the general population, not congressional membership [2] [11].
5. Legal and constitutional dimensions that complicate counting
The Constitution sets age and citizenship-duration requirements for Congress but does not bar dual nationality; courts and State Department practice have long treated relinquishment of U.S. citizenship as generally requiring voluntary, affirmative action, which contrasts with some legislative proposals that would deem inaction as relinquishment [1] [2]. That legal ambiguity means publicly inferring a lawmaker’s foreign nationality from actions like birth or past ties can be wrong without documentary evidence [1].
6. What reporters and researchers can reliably do now
Given the lack of an official registry, the only reliable path to a verified list is a combination of voluntary disclosures, campaign filings (if new disclosure laws pass), and investigative reporting that checks foreign-government records or passport evidence — none of which the current sources show has produced a complete count of sitting senators and representatives with dual citizenship [3] [4]. News organizations and fact-checkers (like Snopes) have repeatedly debunked specific claims about officeholders’ citizenship when evidence is lacking [4].
7. Bottom line for readers seeking a number
Available sources do not list a definitive number of current U.S. senators or representatives who hold dual citizenship; reporting and proposals make clear the question is politically salient but also inherently hard to answer without new disclosure rules or direct admissions from the members themselves [2] [6]. If you want a credible, up-to-date count, monitor investigative reporting, candidate disclosures tied to any new laws, or statements from individual members — those are the only avenues the sources indicate could yield verifiable totals [3].
Limitations: sources reviewed here discuss bills, political debate and the absence of federal data, but they do not compile or confirm a list of sitting members who currently hold foreign citizenship; therefore no precise numeric answer is available in the provided reporting [1] [4].