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Rep. Ben Cline

Representative for Virginia’s 6th District

pronounced ben // klīn

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Cline is the representative for Virginia’s 6th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 3, 2019. Cline is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

Cline is among the Republican legislators who, by calling for entire states to be disenfranchised in the 2020 presidential election, fomented the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 that aimed to prevent the determination of the next president of the United States. Shortly after the 2020 election, Cline joined a case before the Supreme Court calling for all the votes for president in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — states that were narrowly won by Democrats — to be discounted, claiming that some voters there followed procedures set by the wrong state officials. The case amplified lies and conspiracy theories that fueled the movement that led to the attack on the Capitol. The Supreme Court rejected the case. On January 6, 2021 in the hours after the attack on the Capitol, Cline voted for the exclusion of Arizona and/or Pennsylvania — states narrowly won by Democrats — from the count of Electoral College votes that determined the next President of the United States. Following the rejection of several cases before the Supreme Court, one legislator called for violence.
Photo of Rep. Ben Cline [R-VA6]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Cline is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Cline has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 13, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

The Club for Growth: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Enacted Legislation

Cline was the primary sponsor of 1 bill that was enacted:

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Does 1 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Cline sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Government Operations and Politics (100%)

Recent Bills

Some of Cline’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Cline voted Yea

Passed 327/85 on Dec 21, 2020.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due ...

Cline voted Nay

Cline voted Nay

Cline voted Nay

Passed 373/45 on Feb 5, 2020.

Cline voted Yea

Cline voted Nay

Cline voted Nay

Missed Votes

From Jan 2019 to Jan 2021, Cline missed 2 of 971 roll call votes, which is 0.2%. This is better than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.

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Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: