Rep. Elijah Cummings’s 2014 Report Card

Wrote the most laws compared to Maryland Delegation

Cummings introduced 2 bills that became law in the 113th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills »

Those bills were: H.R. 1233: Presidential and Federal Records Act …; H.R. 4197: All Circuit Review Extension Act

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (69^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (84^th percentile); House Democrats (95^th percentile); Safe House Seats (89^th percentile); All Representatives (88^th percentile).

A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively.

Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to Maryland Delegation

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 3 of Cummings’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 2884: Witness Security and Protection Grant …; H.R. 3120: Comprehensive Dental Reform Act of …; H.R. 4391: Proprietary Education Oversight Coordination Improvement …

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (69^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (62^nd percentile); House Democrats (62^nd percentile); Safe House Seats (68^th percentile); All Representatives (67^th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.

Supported government transparency the most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

GovTrack looked at whether Cummings supported any of 12 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Cummings 9 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Cummings sponsored H.R. 1233: Presidential and Federal Records Act …

Cummings cosponsored H.R. 1104: Federal Advisory Committee Act Amendments …; H.R. 1133: Presidential Library Donation Reform Act …; H.R. 1162: Government Accountability Office Improvement Act; H.R. 1211: FOIA Act; H.R. 1380: Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports …; H.R. 2061: Digital Accountability and Transparency Act …

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (96^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (99^th percentile); House Democrats (100^th percentile); Safe House Seats (99^th percentile); All Representatives (100^th percentile).

Introduced the 2^nd most bills compared to Maryland Delegation

Cummings introduced 16 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (44^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50^th percentile); House Democrats (56^th percentile); Safe House Seats (60^th percentile); All Representatives (59^th percentile).

Got the 2^nd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Maryland Delegation

Cummings’s bills and resolutions had 96 cosponsors in the 113th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (13^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (20^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25^th percentile); House Democrats (28^th percentile); Safe House Seats (24^th percentile); All Representatives (25^th percentile).

Ranked the 2^nd bottom/follower compared to Maryland Delegation

Our unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 113th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Cummings’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (13^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (18^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (20^th percentile); House Democrats (25^th percentile); Safe House Seats (17^th percentile); All Representatives (18^th percentile).

Ranked 4^th most politically left compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs

Our unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Cummings’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (13^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (7^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (15^th percentile); House Democrats (23^rd percentile); Safe House Seats (11^th percentile); All Representatives (11^th percentile).

Cosponsored the 8^th most bills compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs

Cummings cosponsored 307 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (82^nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (69^th percentile); House Democrats (52^nd percentile); Safe House Seats (71^st percentile); All Representatives (71^st percentile).

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 8^th lowest % of bills compared to House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 1 other)

Cummings tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 25% of Cummings’s 16 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress.

Compare to all House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (23^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (29^th percentile); House Democrats (35^th percentile); Safe House Seats (31^st percentile); All Representatives (29^th percentile).

Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.

Got their bills out of committee the 6^th most often compared to House Democrats (tied with 6 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cummings introduced 3 bills in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 1233: Presidential and Federal Records Act …; H.R. 1234: Electronic Message Preservation Act; H.R. 4197: All Circuit Review Extension Act

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (56^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (73^rd percentile); House Democrats (94^th percentile); Safe House Seats (78^th percentile); All Representatives (78^th percentile).

Joined bipartisan bills the 37^th least often compared to House Democrats

Of the 307 bills that Cummings cosponsored, 23% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (58^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53^rd percentile); House Democrats (18^th percentile); Safe House Seats (60^th percentile); All Representatives (57^th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.

Got influential cosponsors the 71^st most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 21 others)

5 of Cummings’s bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward.

Those bills were: H.R. 1678: Saving Essential American Sailors Act; H.R. 1706: Mortgage Settlement Monitoring Act of …; H.R. 1842: Military Family Home Protection Act; H.R. 3694: Net Price Calculator Improvement Act; H.R. 4197: All Circuit Review Extension Act

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (53^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (69^th percentile); House Democrats (77^th percentile); Safe House Seats (79^th percentile); All Representatives (79^th percentile).

Committee Positions

Cummings held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cummings’s Profile »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (63^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (76^th percentile); House Democrats (90^th percentile); Safe House Seats (89^th percentile); All Representatives (90^th percentile).

Missed Votes

Cummings missed 2.5% of votes (30 of 1,204 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Cummings’s Profile »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38^th percentile); House Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (53^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38^th percentile); Safe House Seats (48^th percentile); All Representatives (50^th percentile).

The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics.