Markey is the junior senator from Massachusetts and is a Democrat. He has served since Jul 16, 2013. Markey is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
He was previously the representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2013; and the representative for Massachusetts’s 7th congressional district as a Democrat from 1975 to 2012.
![Photo of Sen. Edward “Ed” Markey [D-MA]](/static/legislator-photos/400253-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Markey.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Markey 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 Markey has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jul 2, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Edward “Ed” Markey sits on the following committees:
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Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Security subcommittee Ranking Member
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Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
- East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy subcommittee Ranking Member
- Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Enacted Legislation
Markey was the primary sponsor of 27 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 3527: A bill to waive required minimum distribution rules for retirement plans in 2020.
- S. 708: INTERDICT Act
- S. 3148 (114th): John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission Act
- S. 1251 (114th): Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Amendments Act
- H.R. 4087 (112th): Prescription Drug Labeling Promotion Act of 2012
- H.R. 2640 (112th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 462 Washington Street in Woburn, Massachusetts, as the “Officer John Maguire Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 4689 (111th): National Alzheimer’s Project Act
Does 27 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
Markey sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (22%) Transportation and Public Works (17%) Health (15%) Crime and Law Enforcement (11%) Energy (10%) Science, Technology, Communications (10%) Environmental Protection (7%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Markey’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 4120: A bill to enhance the early warning reporting requirements for motor vehicle manufacturers, ...
- S. 4142: A bill to amend the Revised Statutes to remove the defense of qualified ...
- S. 4122: A bill to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue a final rule ...
- S. 4121: A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to require the Secretary ...
- S. 4123: A bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to conduct research regarding and ...
- S. 4114: A bill to prohibit Federal law enforcement officers from using riot control agents ...
- S. 4084: A bill to prohibit biometric surveillance by the Federal Government without explicit statutory ...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jul 2013 to Jul 2020, Markey missed 91 of 2,144 roll call votes, which is 4.2%. This is much worse than the median of 1.7% 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
- United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
- Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
