Murphy is the junior senator from Connecticut and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Murphy is next up for reelection in 2024.
He was previously the representative for Connecticut’s 5th congressional district as a Democrat from 2007 to 2012.
![Photo of Sen. Christopher Murphy [D-CT]](/static/legislator-photos/412194-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Murphy.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Murphy is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate 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 Murphy has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Dec 10, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Christopher Murphy sits on the following committees:
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Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Legislative Branch
- Member, Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Member, Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
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Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation
- Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism
- Member, Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy
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Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
- Member, Subcommittee on Children and Families
- Member, Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security
Enacted Legislation
Murphy was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:
- S. 2399: American Innovation $1 Coin Act
- S. 1326: American Innovation $1 Coin Act
- S. 1600 (114th): Judicial Redress Act of 2015
- S.J.Res. 41 (113th): A joint resolution approving the location of a memorial to commemorate the more than 5,000 slaves and free Black persons who fought for independence in the American ...
- H.R. 1675 (111th): Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2009
Does 5 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
Murphy sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Education (24%) International Affairs (17%) Health (14%) Finance and Financial Sector (13%) Taxation (10%) Social Welfare (8%) Immigration (8%) Agriculture and Food (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Murphy’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S.Res. 417: A resolution commemorating the 81st anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken ...
- S.Res. 396: A resolution designating October 2019 as “National Health Literacy Month”.
- S.Res. 360: A resolution affirming the importance of access to safe, quality education, including protection ...
- S.Res. 338: A resolution designating the week of September 23 through September 27, 2019, as ...
- S. 2317: Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2019
- S. 2325: Super Pollutants Act
- S. 2230: Child Care Flex Spending Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Dec 2019, Murphy missed 11 of 2,152 roll call votes, which is 0.5%. This is better than the median of 1.5% among the lifetime records of senators 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.
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
