Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Representative for Florida's 23rd Congressional District

Wasserman Schultz is the representative for Florida’s 23^rd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2013. Wasserman Schultz is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

She was previously the representative for Florida’s 20^th congressional district as a Democrat from 2005 to 2012.

Photo of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D-FL23]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Wasserman Schultz.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Wasserman Schultz 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 Wasserman Schultz has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Dec 3, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Human Rights Campaign: 100% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 100% League of Conservation Voters: 93% United States Chamber of Commerce: 64% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: C- The Club for Growth: 6%

Committee Membership

Debbie Wasserman Schultz sits on the following committees:

House Committee on Appropriations
- Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies subcommittee Chair
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies subcommittees
House Committee on Oversight and Reform

Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, National Security subcommittees

Enacted Legislation

Wasserman Schultz was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 8 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

Wasserman Schultz sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (28%) International Affairs (17%) Crime and Law Enforcement (17%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Housing and Community Development (8%) Immigration (8%) Environmental Protection (6%) Government Operations and Politics (6%)

Recent Bills

Some of Wasserman Schultz’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

H.R. 7093: Clean Up the Code Act of 2018

Passed 386/5 on Dec 20, 2018.

Should you be able to drive your water hyacinth plant to another state without being labeled a criminal under the law? #### Context There are …

Wasserman Schultz voted Yea

H.R. 3971: Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017

Passed 294/129 on Dec 12, 2017.

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

H.R. 3447: To extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project.

Passed 406/3 on Mar 15, 2016.

Wasserman Schultz voted Aye

H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act

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. …

Wasserman Schultz 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 …

Wasserman Schultz voted No

H.R. 1731: National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015

Passed 355/63 on Apr 23, 2015.

Wasserman Schultz voted Yea

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 …

Wasserman Schultz voted Aye

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

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

Wasserman Schultz 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 …

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

H.R. 31 (111th): Lumbee Recognition Act

Passed 240/179 on Jun 3, 2009.

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

H.R. 601 (111th): Box Elder Utah Land Conveyance Act

Passed 396/1 on Feb 23, 2009.

Missed Votes

From Jan 2005 to Dec 2021, Wasserman Schultz missed 586 of 11,445 roll call votes, which is 5.1%. This is much worse than the median of 2.1% 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
2005 Jan-Mar	90	3	3.3%	49^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	12	4.4%	66^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	2	1.4%	45^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	11	6.7%	88^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	11	13.6%	92^nd
2006 Apr-Jun	276	5	1.8%	46^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	3	1.4%	46^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	9	2.3%	64^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	6	1.9%	54^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	17	6.5%	75^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	6	4.0%	57^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	9	2.8%	49^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	6	2.9%	57^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	3	20.0%	94^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	7	4.0%	78^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	3	1.0%	24^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	9	3.4%	69^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	19	7.7%	87^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	11	5.6%	74^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	18	8.2%	82^nd
2010 Jul-Sep	151	0	0.0%	0^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	10	10.1%	81^st
2011 Jan-Mar	212	12	5.7%	91^st
2011 Apr-Jun	281	17	6.0%	89^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	10	4.0%	80^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	23	11.1%	94^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	1	0.7%	23^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	27	9.0%	87^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	13	8.6%	89^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Jan	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	9	10.1%	87^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	9	4.2%	74^th
2013 Jul-Sep	200	14	7.0%	88^th
2013 Oct-Dec	137	23	16.8%	95^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	5	3.4%	65^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	9	4.1%	72^nd
2014 Jul-Sep	147	20	13.6%	96^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	1	2.0%	54^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	8	5.6%	80^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	58	23.8%	98^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	8	5.8%	82^nd
2015 Oct-Dec	177	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	13	9.5%	78^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	19	9.3%	88^th
2016 Jul-Sep	232	3	1.3%	52^nd
2016 Nov-Dec	48	1	2.1%	65^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	1	0.5%	23^rd
2017 Apr-Jun	136	16	11.8%	95^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	44	22.1%	96^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	5	3.9%	65^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	3	1.6%	36^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	7	6.9%	87^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	0	0.0%	0^th
2019 Jan-Mar	136	2	1.5%	51^st
2019 Apr-Jun	294	10	3.4%	79^th
2019 Jul-Sep	125	1	0.8%	55^th
2019 Oct-Dec	146	13	8.9%	89^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Jul-Sep	80	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Oct-Dec	40	0	0.0%	0^th
2021 Jan-Mar	97	0	0.0%	0^th
2021 Apr-Jun	107	0	0.0%	0^th
2021 Jul-Sep	108	1	0.9%	36^th
2021 Oct-Dec	89	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. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

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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

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

Wasserman Schultz voted Yea

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

Wasserman Schultz voted Aye

Wasserman Schultz voted Yea

Wasserman Schultz voted No

Wasserman Schultz voted Yea

Wasserman Schultz voted Aye

Wasserman Schultz voted Aye

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

Wasserman Schultz voted Nay

Missed Votes

Primary Sources