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Rep. Eric Swalwell’s 2019 Report Card

Representative from California's 15th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2023

These year-end statistics cover Swalwell’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.

A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Swalwell’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.

Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.

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Was 6th most absent in votes compared to All Representatives

Swalwell missed 29.2% of votes (205 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Swalwell’s Profile »

Compare to all California Delegation (98th percentile); All Representatives (99th 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.
 

Got influential cosponsors the 8th least often compared to California Delegation (tied with 6 others)

1 of Swalwell’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 2424: Duty to Report Act

Compare to all California Delegation (13th percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (22nd percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 16th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 7 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 2 of Swalwell’s 14 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Swalwell caucused with in 2019.

Compare to all California Delegation (12th percentile); House Democrats (6th percentile); All Representatives (14th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Cosponsored the 79th most bills compared to All Representatives

Swalwell cosponsored 388 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 California Delegation (62nd percentile); House Democrats (67th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile).

 

Ranked 110th most politically left compared to All Representatives

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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Swalwell’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all California Delegation (48th percentile); House Democrats (46th percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Swalwell introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill.
 

Bills Introduced

Swalwell introduced 14 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills »

Compare to all California Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (39th percentile); All Representatives (56th percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Swalwell introduced 0 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Working with the Senate

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 3 of Swalwell’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. 1684: Journalist Protection Act; H.R. 2424: Duty to Report Act; H.R. 3098: Student Loan Interest Deduction Act …

Compare to all California Delegation (48th percentile); House Democrats (50th percentile); All Representatives (62nd percentile).

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

Committee Positions

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

Compare to all California Delegation (27th percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile).

 

Joining Bipartisan Bills

Of the 388 bills that Swalwell cosponsored, 10% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all California Delegation (58th percentile); House Democrats (53rd percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile).

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

Cosponsors

Swalwell’s bills and resolutions had 196 cosponsors in 2019. 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 California Delegation (37th percentile); House Democrats (39th percentile); All Representatives (58th percentile).

 

Leadership Score

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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Swalwell’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all California Delegation (35th percentile); House Democrats (34th percentile); All Representatives (56th percentile).

Additional Notes

Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.

Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).

Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.

Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2019) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.