Rep. Don Bacon
Representative for Nebraska’s 2nd District
pronounced don // BAY-kun
![Photo of Rep. Don Bacon [R-NE2]](/static/legislator-photos/412713-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Bacon proposed $54 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $12 million to Omaha Airport Authority for “Eppley Airfield Federal Inspection Services Facility”
- $10 million to City of Omaha for “Omaha Urban Core Burt Street Project”
- $7 million to Sarpy County and Cities Wastewater Agency (SCCWWA) for “Unified Southern Sarpy Wastewater System (Unified SSWS) – Springfield Creek Lift Station”
View all requests and justifications on Bacon’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 Report Card for Bacon.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Bacon 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 Bacon has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Sep 22, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Don Bacon sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Bacon was the primary sponsor of 14 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 9533 (117th): Homeland Security Cyber Incident Response Roles and Responsibilities Act of 2022
- H.R. 9531 (117th): Military Service Academy Foundation Act of 2022
- H.R. 9532 (117th): Warfighter Brain Health Act of 2022
- H.R. 9529 (117th): Defense Law Enforcement Officer Credential Act of 2022
- H.R. 9530 (117th): Fort Omaha Land Exchange Act of 2022
- H.R. 9485 (117th): Geographical Dispersion of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Act of 2022
- H.R. 8240 (117th): Military Energy Security Act of 2022
Does 14 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
Bacon sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (48%) Crime and Law Enforcement (18%) International Affairs (11%) Families (8%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Bacon recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5672: Bipartisan Keep America Open Act
- H.R. 5622: Youth Lead Act
- H.R. 5352: Military Service Academy Director of Admissions Act of 2023
- H.R. 5321: Strategic Defense Fellows Act of 2023
- H.R. 5320: Defense Capability Development Minor Construction Enhancement Act of 2023
- H.R. 5298: Military Lodging Reform Act of 2023
- H.R. 5297: Defense Small Business Past Performance Consideration Act of 2023
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2017 to Sep 2023, Bacon missed 14 of 3,565 roll call votes, which is 0.4%. This is better than the median of 1.7% 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, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- Office of Don Bacon for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
