Bennie Thompson, Representative for Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District

Thompson is the representative for Mississippi’s 2^nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Apr 13, 1993. Thompson is next up for reelection in 2020.

Rep. Bennie Thompson is currently voting by proxy under new rules in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since May 22, 2020, Rep. Marcia Fudge [D-OH11] will be casting Thompson’s vote. Under the rules for proxy voting, representatives may designate another representative as their proxy and must give their proxy exact instructions on how to vote.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In 2009 Thompson was investigated for receiving impermissible travel gifts. The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct concluded Thompson did not knowingly accept impermissble travel gifts.

Jun. 8, 2009	House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct further review the allegations
Feb. 26, 2010	House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct concluded Representative Thompson did not knowingly accept impermissble travel gifts

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2019 Report Card for Thompson.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Thompson 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 liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Thompson has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jun 4, 2020. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Human Rights Campaign: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% NIAC Action: A League of Conservation Voters: 86% American Civil Liberties Union: 81% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B United States Chamber of Commerce: 64% Americans for Prosperity: 11% NumbersUSA: 8% The Club for Growth: 5% FreedomWorks: 5%

Committee Membership

Bennie Thompson sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Homeland Security Chair

Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Innovation, Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Oversight, Management, and Accountability, Transportation and Maritime Security subcommittees

Enacted Legislation

Thompson was the primary sponsor of 12 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

View All »

Does 12 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Thompson sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Emergency Management (29%) Transportation and Public Works (27%) Government Operations and Politics (22%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%) Immigration (7%) Science, Technology, Communications (4%) Education (4%)

Recent Bills

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

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Thompson voted Nay

H.R. 2905: Justice for Victims of IRS Scams and Identity Theft Act of 2017

Passed 403/3 on Apr 18, 2018.

H.R. 2905 will require the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress on efforts to combat identity theft, including by ...

Thompson voted Nay

H.R. 3724: Ensuring Integrity in the IRS Workforce Act of 2016

Passed 345/78 on Apr 21, 2016.

Thompson voted Yea

H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of ...

Thompson voted Nay

H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015

Passed 219/206 on Dec 11, 2014.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December ...

Thompson voted No

H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

Thompson voted Aye

H.Res. 470 (113th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3590) to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing, ...

Passed 234/185 on Feb 4, 2014.

Thompson voted Nay

H.R. 443 (112th): To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located ...

Passed 410/5 on Jan 1, 2013.

Thompson voted Aye

H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012

Passed 223/197 on Aug 2, 2012.

Thompson voted Aye

H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack ...

Thompson voted Nay

S. 3729 (111th): National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010

Passed 304/118 on Sep 29, 2010.

Thompson voted Nay

H.R. 1830 (110th): To extend the authorities of the Andean Trade Preference Act until February 29, 2008.

Passed 365/59 on Jun 27, 2007.

Missed Votes

From Apr 1993 to May 2020, Thompson missed 743 of 17,850 roll call votes, which is 4.2%. This is worse than the median of 2.2% 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.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1993 Apr-Jun	181	53	29.3%	98^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	4	2.4%	67^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	1	0.7%	20^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	4	4.2%	69^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	8	3.7%	67^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	22	15.5%	92^nd
1994 Oct-Nov	51	1	2.0%	50^th
1995 Jan-Mar	279	2	0.7%	40^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	6	3.2%	63^rd
1995 Jul-Sep	232	6	2.6%	61^st
1995 Oct-Dec	185	1	0.5%	25^th
1996 Jan-Mar	110	4	3.6%	53^rd
1996 Apr-Jun	182	4	2.2%	44^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	13	8.0%	93^rd
1997 Jan-Mar	71	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	6	3.4%	73^rd
1997 Jul-Sep	232	7	3.0%	66^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	6	3.7%	73^rd
1998 Jan-Mar	89	0	0.0%	0^th
1998 Apr-Jun	185	4	2.2%	47^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	24	12.1%	90^th
1998 Oct-Dec	74	5	6.8%	83^rd
1999 Jan-Mar	77	2	2.6%	54^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	4	2.2%	52^nd
1999 Jul-Sep	204	10	4.9%	86^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	4	2.7%	56^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	6	6.3%	69^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	10	3.6%	65^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	2	1.5%	46^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	36	35.6%	98^th
2001 Jan-Mar	75	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	1	0.7%	22^nd
2001 Jul-Sep	149	1	0.7%	24^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	18	11.8%	92^nd
2002 Jan-Mar	79	1	1.3%	33^rd
2002 Apr-Jun	203	17	8.4%	91^st
2002 Jul-Sep	141	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	2	0.8%	32^nd
2003 Jul-Sep	193	4	2.1%	60^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	15	9.3%	85^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	1	1.1%	17^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	1	0.7%	25^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	3	1.8%	33^rd
2006 Jan-Mar	81	1	1.2%	38^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	4	1.4%	39^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	9	5.7%	82^nd
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	1	0.5%	21^st
2007 Apr-Jun	393	2	0.5%	17^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	1	0.3%	4^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	1	0.4%	9^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	21	14.1%	91^st
2008 Apr-Jun	321	12	3.7%	57^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	9	4.4%	68^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	5	33.3%	96^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	2	1.1%	37^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	15	5.0%	78^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	12	4.5%	80^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	0	0.0%	0^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	4	2.1%	40^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	3	1.4%	24^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	3	2.0%	49^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	3	1.4%	56^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	5	1.8%	60^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	16	7.7%	85^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	18	11.9%	91^st
2012 Apr-Jun	299	21	7.0%	80^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	2	2.2%	55^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	3	1.4%	41^st
2013 Jul-Sep	200	7	3.5%	72^nd
2013 Oct-Dec	137	7	5.1%	76^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	1	0.7%	23^rd
2014 Apr-Jun	219	25	11.4%	91^st
2014 Jul-Sep	147	5	3.4%	74^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	1	2.0%	56^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	5	3.5%	68^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	5	2.0%	66^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	18	12.9%	94^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	15	10.9%	83^rd
2016 Apr-Jun	204	3	1.5%	42^nd
2016 Jul-Sep	232	6	2.6%	73^rd
2016 Nov-Dec	48	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	4	1.9%	61^st
2017 Apr-Jun	136	5	3.7%	76^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	16	9.6%	92^nd
2018 Jan-Mar	129	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	38	20.7%	98^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	4	3.9%	76^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	47	55.3%	97^th
2019 Jan-Mar	136	4	2.9%	68^th
2019 Apr-Jun	294	4	1.4%	54^th
2019 Jul-Sep	125	10	8.0%	93^rd
2019 Oct-Dec	146	15	10.3%	89^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	6	5.9%	76^th
2020 Apr-May	13	0	0.0%	0^th

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
GPO Member Guide for the photo
GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills

Rep. Bennie Thompson

Links

Follow GovTrack on social media for more updates:

On GovTrack Insider:

Alleged misconduct & resolution

I have an opinion I want to share.

I need help, have a question, or want to schedule a tour.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recent Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

Thompson voted Nay

Thompson voted Nay

Thompson voted Yea

Thompson voted Nay

Thompson voted No

Thompson voted Aye

Thompson voted Nay

Thompson voted Aye

Thompson voted Aye

Thompson voted Nay

Thompson voted Nay

Missed Votes

Primary Sources