Bobby Rush, Representative for Illinois's 1st Congressional District

Rush is the representative for Illinois’s 1^st congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 5, 1993. Rush’s current term ends on Jan 3, 2021.

Rep. Bobby Rush is currently voting by proxy under new rules in effect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since Jul 27, 2020, Rep. Lauren Underwood [D-IL14] will be casting Rush’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 2014 Rush was investigated for allowing state and federal campaign committees to accept in-kind contributions. With publication of its report, the House Committee on Ethics reproved Rush for accepting a gift of rent-free office space even if it did not amount to a campaign contribution and ordered him to repay the value of the gift.

Jun. 10, 2014	House Office of Congressional Ethics referred the case to the House Committee on Ethics
Nov. 10, 2014	House Committee on Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings and the member's response.
Mar. 22, 2018	House Committee on Ethics with publication of its report, the committee reproved the member for accepting a gift of rent-free office space even if it did not amount to a campaign contribution and ordered him to repay the value of the gift.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2019 Report Card for Rush.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Rush 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 Rush has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Nov 24, 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: 91% American Civil Liberties Union: 90% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: B United States Chamber of Commerce: 55% FreedomWorks: 21% The Club for Growth: 20% Americans for Prosperity: 14% NumbersUSA: 3%

Committee Membership

Bobby Rush sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- Energy subcommittee Chair
Consumer Protection and Commerce, Health subcommittees

Enacted Legislation

Rush was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:

View All »

Does 6 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

Rush sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (23%) Crime and Law Enforcement (18%) Commerce (15%) Environmental Protection (12%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (9%) Science, Technology, Communications (8%) Energy (8%) Transportation and Public Works (6%)

Recent Bills

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

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Rush voted Nay

H.Res. 41: Rejecting White nationalism and White supremacy.

Passed 424/1 on Jan 15, 2019.

Rush voted Aye

H.Res. 891: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5698) to amend title 18, United States Code, to punish criminal ...

Passed 229/185 on May 16, 2018.

Rush voted No

S. 612: A bill to designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 1300 Victoria Street in Laredo, ...

Passed 360/61 on Dec 8, 2016.

Rush voted Aye

H.Res. 771: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5325) making appropriations for the Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ...

Passed 237/182 on Jun 9, 2016.

Rush voted Nay

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 ...

Rush 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 ...

Rush voted Aye

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

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

Rush voted No

H.J.Res. 117 (112th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2013

Passed 329/91 on Sep 13, 2012.

Rush voted Nay

H.R. 2715 (112th): To provide the Consumer Product Safety Commission with greater authority and discretion in enforcing the consumer product ...

Passed 421/2 on Aug 1, 2011.

Rush voted No

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 ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 1993 to Nov 2020, Rush missed 2,910 of 18,097 roll call votes, which is 16.1%. This is much worse than the median of 2.3% 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 Jan-Mar	126	3	2.4%	55^th
1993 Apr-Jun	190	30	15.8%	94^th
1993 Jul-Sep	164	6	3.7%	76^th
1993 Oct-Nov	134	0	0.0%	0^th
1994 Jan-Mar	95	11	11.6%	90^th
1994 Apr-Jun	219	31	14.2%	96^th
1994 Jul-Sep	142	8	5.6%	75^th
1994 Oct-Nov	51	2	3.9%	71^st
1995 Jan-Mar	279	62	22.2%	98^th
1995 Apr-Jun	189	11	5.8%	82^nd
1995 Jul-Sep	232	11	4.7%	89^th
1995 Oct-Dec	185	17	9.2%	91^st
1996 Jan-Mar	110	20	18.2%	91^st
1996 Apr-Jun	182	5	2.7%	54^th
1996 Jul-Sep	163	8	4.9%	77^th
1997 Jan-Mar	71	4	5.6%	70^th
1997 Apr-Jun	174	15	8.6%	96^th
1997 Jul-Sep	232	14	6.0%	90^th
1997 Oct-Nov	163	4	2.5%	64^th
1998 Jan-Mar	89	8	9.0%	83^rd
1998 Apr-Jun	185	15	8.1%	89^th
1998 Jul-Sep	199	15	7.5%	82^nd
1998 Oct-Dec	74	2	2.7%	64^th
1999 Jan-Mar	77	23	29.9%	99^th
1999 Apr-Jun	184	9	4.9%	76^th
1999 Jul-Sep	204	10	4.9%	86^th
1999 Oct-Nov	146	41	28.1%	99^th
2000 Jan-Mar	95	43	45.3%	99^th
2000 Apr-Jun	277	14	5.1%	75^th
2000 Jul-Sep	130	17	13.1%	94^th
2000 Oct-Dec	101	18	17.8%	82^nd
2001 Jan-Mar	75	8	10.7%	94^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	28	20.7%	99^th
2001 Jul-Sep	149	16	10.7%	94^th
2001 Oct-Dec	153	4	2.6%	51^st
2002 Jan-Mar	79	18	22.8%	96^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	12	5.9%	84^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	8	5.7%	70^th
2002 Oct-Nov	61	12	19.7%	97^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	17	18.1%	99^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	26	10.9%	94^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	13	6.7%	86^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	6	4.0%	52^nd
2004 Jan-Mar	104	14	13.5%	88^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	12	5.4%	78^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	7	4.3%	53^rd
2004 Oct-Dec	58	5	8.6%	77^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	15	16.7%	97^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	19	7.0%	83^rd
2005 Jul-Sep	146	18	12.3%	98^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	8	4.9%	72^nd
2006 Jan-Mar	81	11	13.6%	92^nd
2006 Apr-Jun	276	27	9.8%	97^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	9	5.7%	82^nd
2006 Nov-Dec	27	3	11.1%	76^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	24	11.3%	97^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	23	5.9%	90^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	11	3.5%	75^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	20	7.6%	84^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	84	56.4%	99^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	321	100.0%	99^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	115	56.1%	99^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	22	12.6%	96^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	17	5.6%	83^rd
2009 Jul-Sep	268	25	9.3%	94^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	21	8.5%	88^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	31	15.9%	97^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	39	17.8%	96^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	20	13.2%	96^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	22	22.2%	93^rd
2011 Jan-Mar	212	14	6.6%	94^th
2011 Apr-Jun	281	37	13.2%	97^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	31	12.6%	96^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	20	9.6%	92^nd
2012 Jan-Mar	151	24	15.9%	98^th
2012 Apr-Jun	299	33	11.0%	91^st
2012 Jul-Sep	152	16	10.5%	91^st
2012 Nov-Dec	51	9	17.6%	95^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	19	21.3%	98^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	17	7.9%	90^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	60	30.0%	98^th
2013 Oct-Dec	137	132	96.4%	100^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	111	75.0%	100^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	97	44.3%	99^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	50	34.0%	99^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	10	20.4%	97^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	34	23.6%	97^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	26	10.7%	94^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	10	7.2%	85^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	40	22.6%	98^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	76	55.5%	99^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	24	11.8%	92^nd
2016 Jul-Sep	232	99	42.7%	99^th
2016 Nov-Dec	48	10	20.8%	97^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	162	77.9%	100^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	6	4.4%	79^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	9	4.5%	85^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	16	9.6%	92^nd
2018 Jan-Mar	129	22	17.1%	96^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	25	13.6%	96^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	18	17.6%	96^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	9	10.6%	81^st
2019 Jan-Mar	136	15	11.0%	95^th
2019 Apr-Jun	294	20	6.8%	89^th
2019 Jul-Sep	125	0	0.0%	0^th
2019 Oct-Dec	146	12	8.2%	86^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	9	8.8%	83^rd
2020 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Jul-Sep	80	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Oct-Nov	14	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. Bobby Rush

Links

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Alleged misconduct & resolution

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Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recent Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

Rush voted Nay

Rush voted Aye

Rush voted No

Rush voted Aye

Rush voted Nay

Rush voted Nay

Rush voted Aye

Rush voted No

Rush voted Nay

Rush voted No

Missed Votes

Primary Sources