Sasse is the junior senator from Nebraska and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 6, 2015. Sasse is next up for reelection in 2020.
![Photo of Sen. Benjamin Sasse [R-NE]](/static/legislator-photos/412671-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Sasse.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Sasse is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Sasse has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Feb 25, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Benjamin Sasse sits on the following committees:
-
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
- National Security and International Trade and Finance subcommittee Chair
Economic Policy, Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection subcommittees -
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
- Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts subcommittee Chair
the Constitution, Intellectual Property subcommittees - Joint Economic Committee
- Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Enacted Legislation
Sasse was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- S.J.Res. 26: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to teacher ...
- S. 17: GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017
Does 2 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
Sasse sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (24%) Crime and Law Enforcement (20%) Taxation (20%) Education (12%) Transportation and Public Works (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (8%) Health (8%)
Recent Bills
Some of Sasse’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S.J.Res. 58: A joint resolution expressing support for freedom of conscience.
- S. 2440: Qualified Health Savings Account Distribution Act of 2019
- S. 2441: Health Savings Account Expansion Act of 2019
- S. 1910: A bill to rename the Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska, ...
- S. 1348: A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to conduct a study on ...
- S. 1255: Transporting Livestock Across America Safely Act
- S. 909: Separation of Powers Restoration Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to Feb 2020, Sasse missed 20 of 1,591 roll call votes, which is 1.3%. This is on par with the median of 1.4% among the lifetime records of senators 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.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- Sen. Ben Sasse's Senate office for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
