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Sen. Charles “Chuck” Grassley’s 2013 Report Card

Senior Senator from Iowa
Republican
Serving Jan 5, 1981 – Jan 3, 2029

These year-end statistics cover Grassley’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding Congress.

A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Grassley’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.

Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.

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Supported government transparency the most often compared to Senate Republicans

GovTrack looked at whether Grassley supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Grassley 5 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Grassley sponsored S. 405: Sunshine in the Courtroom Act …

Grassley cosponsored S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 1207: Cameras in the Courtroom Act

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (98th percentile); Senate Republicans (98th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); All Senators (95th percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 5th most often compared to All Senators

In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 132 bills that Grassley cosponsored, 52% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (93rd percentile); Senate Republicans (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); All Senators (95th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Ranked 8th most politically left compared to Senate Republicans

Our unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Grassley’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (61st percentile); Senate Republicans (16th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); All Senators (62nd percentile).

 

Got bicameral support on the 8th most bills compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 3 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 8 of Grassley’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the House. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: S. 281: Farm Program Integrity Act of …; S. 479: Small Business Efficiency Act; S. 512: TALENT Act; S. 699: Court Efficiency Act of 2013; S. 714: Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and …; S. 1047: Families for Foster Youth Stamp …; S. 1180: Medicare Data Access for Transparency …; S. 1288: Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (56th percentile); Senate Republicans (76th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (57th percentile); All Senators (67th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got influential cosponsors the 9th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 6 others)

1 of Grassley’s bills and resolutions in 2013 had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward.

Those bills were: S. 405: Sunshine in the Courtroom Act …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (15th percentile); Senate Republicans (18th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (14th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile).

 

Got the 14th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ Years

Grassley’s bills and resolutions had 82 cosponsors in 2013. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (27th percentile); Senate Republicans (40th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); All Senators (32nd percentile).

 

Ranked the 15th bottom/follower compared to Serving 10+ Years

Our unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Grassley’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (29th percentile); Senate Republicans (51st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); All Senators (37th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Grassley introduced 0 bills that became law in 2013. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile).

We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively.
 

Bills Introduced

Grassley introduced 18 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (34th percentile); Senate Republicans (60th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); All Senators (45th percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Grassley introduced 0 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile).

 

Writing Bipartisan Bills

Grassley tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 39% of Grassley’s 18 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013.

Compare to all Senate Republicans (74th percentile); Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (65th percentile); All Senators (70th percentile).

Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Committee Positions

Grassley held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Grassley’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Republicans (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (29th percentile); All Senators (59th percentile).

 

Bills Cosponsored

Grassley cosponsored 132 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (41st percentile); Senate Republicans (49th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (45th percentile); All Senators (46th percentile).

 

Missed Votes

Grassley missed 0.0% of votes (0 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Grassley’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile).

Additional Notes

Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.

Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).

Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.

Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2013) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.