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Sen. Benjamin “Ben” Sasse

Former Senator for Nebraska

pronounced BEN-juh-min // sass

Sasse was a senator from Nebraska and was a Republican. He served from 2015 to 2023.

Photo of Sen. Benjamin “Ben” Sasse [R-NE, 2015-2023]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2022 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 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 3, 2019 to Sep 27, 2023. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Sasse was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:

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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 sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Taxation (25%) Crime and Law Enforcement (18%) Health (14%) Education (11%) Government Operations and Politics (11%) Transportation and Public Works (7%) International Affairs (7%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Sasse recently introduced the following legislation:

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Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Sasse voted Nay

Conference Report Agreed to 83/16 on Feb 14, 2019.

This bill, in its final form, funded the parts of the federal government whose funding was to lapse on February 15, 2019. On December 22, …

Sasse voted Nay

Bill Passed 72/26 on Sep 28, 2016.

The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations …

Sasse voted Nay

Conference Report Agreed to 92/2 on Jul 13, 2016.

Overdoses from heroin, prescription drugs, and opioid pain relievers last year surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in America, according to …

Sasse voted Nay

Bill Passed 94/1 on Mar 10, 2016.

Overdoses from heroin, prescription drugs, and opioid pain relievers last year surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of injury-related death in America, according to …

Sasse voted Nay

Conference Report Agreed to 83/16 on Dec 3, 2015.

H.R 22, formerly the Hire More Heroes Act, has become the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the …

Sasse voted Nay

Bill Passed 65/34 on Jul 30, 2015.

This vote turned H.R 22, originally the Hire More Heroes Act, into the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision …

Missed Votes

From Jan 2015 to Dec 2022, Sasse missed 90 of 2,769 roll call votes, which is 3.3%. This is worse than the median of 2.4% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Dec 2022. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

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

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Primary Sources

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