Palmer is the representative for Alabama’s 6th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 6, 2015. Palmer is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
He is also House Republican Policy Committee Chair, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Rep. Gary Palmer [R-AL6]](/static/legislator-photos/412608-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Palmer 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 Palmer has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to May 16, 2022. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Gary Palmer sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Palmer was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 2502 (116th): Transparency in Federal Buildings Projects Act of 2019
- H.R. 4646 (115th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1900 Corporate Drive in Birmingham, Alabama, as the “Lance Corporal Thomas E. Rivers, Jr. Post …
Does 2 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
Palmer sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (50%) Health (21%) Transportation and Public Works (14%) International Affairs (14%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Palmer recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 1020: Condemning the Biden administration’s plans for seeking to remove sanctions on the oppressive …
- H.R. 6788: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act
- H.R. 1166: Retirement Freedom Act
- H.R. 1067: Standard FEES Act
- H.R. 27: Settlement Agreement Information Database Act of 2021
- H.R. 8360 (116th): Coronavirus Relief Fund Flexibility Act of 2020
- H.R. 8284 (116th): Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Integrity Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
As House Republican Policy Committee Chair, Palmer may be focused on his responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting his party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to May 2022, Palmer missed 53 of 4,145 roll call votes, which is 1.3%. 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills