Ritchie Torres joins the 117th Congress with a high profile that’s a result of years of breaking new ground in his hometown of the Bronx. As chairman of the New York City Council’s Oversight and Investigations Committee, Torres spearheaded a probe into Jared Kushner’s family real estate holdings in 2019 that alleged then-President Donald Trump’s son-in-law was operating rental units illegally in his district. Six years prior, he became the youngest elected council member, joining at 25, and the first openly LGBTQ member of the council from the Bronx. After winning the 2020 election for the U.S. House, Torres and fellow New Yorker Mondaire Jones became the first openly gay Black men elected to Congress.

Learn what Ritchie Torres says about finding common ground