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Rep. Bruce Westerman

Representative for Arkansas’s 4th District

pronounced brooss // WEST-er-min

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Westerman is the representative for Arkansas’s 4th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 6, 2015. Westerman is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

Westerman 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, Westerman 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. Following the rejection of several cases before the Supreme Court, one legislator called for violence.
Photo of Rep. Bruce Westerman [R-AR4]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Westerman 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 Westerman has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 21, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

The Club for Growth: 80% United States Chamber of Commerce: 75% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: D Human Rights Campaign: 0% League of Conservation Voters: 0% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Enacted Legislation

Westerman 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

Westerman sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Public Lands and Natural Resources (25%) Crime and Law Enforcement (17%) Education (12%) Health (12%) Science, Technology, Communications (12%) Armed Forces and National Security (12%) Environmental Protection (8%)

Recent Bills

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

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Westerman 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 ...

Westerman voted Yea

Westerman voted Nay

Passed 366/52 on Jul 25, 2018.
The House Amendment to S. 1182 extends the National Flood Insurance Program, which is set to expire July 31, 2018, through November 30, 2018. This ...

Westerman voted No

Passed 240/186 on Feb 9, 2018.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have ...

Westerman voted No

Passed 344/77 on Jul 10, 2015.
The 21st Century Cures Act is a bipartisan bill that would reform the current standards and appropriations for biomedical research, provide $1.75 billion annually for ...

Westerman voted Aye

Passed 218/208 on Jun 18, 2015.
This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. ...

Westerman voted Yea

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 ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2015 to Jan 2021, Westerman missed 30 of 3,507 roll call votes, which is 0.9%. 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.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

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