Bacon is the representative for Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 3, 2017. Bacon is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
![Photo of Rep. Don Bacon [R-NE2]](/static/legislator-photos/412713-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 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, 2017 to Apr 8, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Don Bacon sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Bacon was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 504 (116th): DHS Field Engagement Accountability Act
- H.R. 4754 (115th): Change Order Transparency for Federal Contractors Act
- H.R. 3201 (115th): Maritime Administration Authorization and Enhancement Act for Fiscal Year 2018
Does 3 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 (27%) Crime and Law Enforcement (27%) International Affairs (13%) Emergency Management (10%) Immigration (10%) Social Welfare (7%) Commerce (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Bacon’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 1727: To amend title 18, United States Code, to specify lynching as a deprivation ...
- H.R. 1604: To amend title 18, United States Code, to combat straw purchases of firearms.
- H.R. 1210: LEOSA Reform Act
- H.R. 857: Iranian Arms Transfer Prevention Act of 2021
- H.R. 7444 (116th): Professional Military Education Review Act of 2020
- H.R. 6922 (116th): BASE Protection Act
- H.R. 6652 (116th): Flexibility for Localities and Eligibility Expansion Act of 2020
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2017 to Mar 2021, Bacon missed 9 of 2,261 roll call votes, which is 0.4%. This is better 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.
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