James “Jim” Inhofe, Senator for Oklahoma

Inhofe is the senior senator from Oklahoma and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 1, 1994. Inhofe is next up for reelection in 2020.

He was previously the representative for Oklahoma’s 1^st congressional district as a Republican from 1987 to 1994.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2017 Report Card for Inhofe.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Inhofe 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 Inhofe has sponsored and cosponsored. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Americans for Prosperity: 96% United States Chamber of Commerce: 88% NumbersUSA: 87% FreedomWorks: 84% The Club for Growth: 82% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: D American Civil Liberties Union: 5% League of Conservation Voters: 5% Human Rights Campaign: 0% NIAC Action: F Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Committee Membership

James “Jim” Inhofe sits on the following committees:

Senate Committee on Armed Services
- Chair, Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
- Member, Subcommittee on Airland
- Member, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Chair, Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Member, Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
- Member, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
- Member, Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
- Member, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
- Member, Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security
- Member, Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
- Member, Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security
Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Enacted Legislation

Inhofe was the primary sponsor of 25 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Inhofe sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Transportation and Public Works (22%) Energy (15%) International Affairs (15%) Taxation (15%) Armed Forces and National Security (13%) Environmental Protection (9%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Crime and Law Enforcement (4%)

Recent Bills

Some of Inhofe’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Inhofe’s Vote	Vote Description
Nay	H.R. 5325: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017 Sep 28, 2016. Bill Passed 72/26.
Yea	H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act Dec 3, 2015. Conference Report Agreed to 83/16. H.R 22, formerly the Hire More Heroes Act, has become the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647). The DRIVE Act is a major bipartisan transportation bill that would authorize funding ...
Yea	H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act Jul 30, 2015. Bill Passed 65/34. This vote turned H.R 22, originally the Hire More Heroes Act, into the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647), a major bipartisan transportation bill, and the Export-Import Bank Reform and ...
Yea	H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015 Sep 18, 2014. Joint Resolution Passed 78/22.
Nay	H.J.Res. 48 (112th): Additional Continuing Appropriations Amendments, 2011 Mar 17, 2011. Joint Resolution Passed 87/13.
Yea	H.R. 4853 (111th): Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 Dec 15, 2010. Motion Agreed to 81/19. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known as the 2010 Tax Relief Act, was passed by the United States Congress on December 16, 2010, and signed into ...
Nay	H.R. 4137 (110th): Higher Education Opportunity Act Jul 31, 2008. Conference Report Agreed to 83/8.
Nay	H.R. 6 (110th): Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 Dec 13, 2007. Motion Agreed to 86/8. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Pub.L. 110-140 originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007) is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the Democratic Party's 100-Hour Plan during the 110th Congress, it was ...

Missed Votes

From Dec 1994 to May 2018, Inhofe missed 313 of 7,589 roll call votes, which is 4.1%. This is much worse than the median of 1.4% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
1994 Oct-Dec	2	0	0.0%	0^th
1995 Jan-Mar	125	6	4.8%	70^th
1995 Apr-Jun	171	4	2.3%	60^th
1995 Jul-Sep	184	5	2.7%	60^th
1995 Oct-Dec	133	0	0.0%	0^th
1996 Jan-Mar	60	1	1.7%	55^th
1996 Apr-Jun	122	4	3.3%	91^st
1996 Jul-Sep	121	1	0.8%	45^th
1996 Oct-Oct	3	0	0.0%	0^th
1997 Jan-Mar	35	2	5.7%	94^th
1997 Apr-Jun	125	1	0.8%	53^rd
1997 Jul-Sep	103	1	1.0%	59^th
1997 Oct-Nov	35	1	2.9%	65^th
1998 Jan-Mar	52	7	13.5%	94^th
1998 Apr-Jun	131	7	5.3%	94^th
1998 Jul-Sep	109	2	1.8%	59^th
1998 Oct-Oct	22	0	0.0%	0^th
1999 Jan-Mar	81	2	2.5%	68^th
1999 Apr-Jun	111	8	7.2%	90^th
1999 Jul-Sep	112	1	0.9%	47^th
1999 Oct-Nov	70	0	0.0%	0^th
2000 Feb-Mar	51	1	2.0%	79^th
2000 Apr-Jun	120	4	3.3%	68^th
2000 Jul-Sep	89	5	5.6%	79^th
2000 Oct-Dec	38	6	15.8%	84^th
2001 Jan-Mar	63	2	3.2%	87^th
2001 Apr-Jun	157	1	0.6%	46^th
2001 Jul-Sep	68	9	13.2%	96^th
2001 Oct-Dec	92	3	3.3%	78^th
2002 Jan-Mar	59	8	13.6%	87^th
2002 Apr-Jun	107	3	2.8%	83^rd
2002 Jul-Sep	61	0	0.0%	0^th
2002 Oct-Nov	26	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Jan-Mar	112	0	0.0%	0^th
2003 Apr-Jun	150	9	6.0%	93^rd
2003 Jul-Sep	108	4	3.7%	85^th
2003 Oct-Nov	89	0	0.0%	0^th
2004 Jan-Mar	64	1	1.6%	67^th
2004 Apr-Jun	88	5	5.7%	96^th
2004 Jul-Sep	42	2	4.8%	78^th
2004 Oct-Dec	22	2	9.1%	85^th
2005 Jan-Mar	81	4	4.9%	97^th
2005 Apr-Jun	89	1	1.1%	50^th
2005 Jul-Sep	76	1	1.3%	47^th
2005 Oct-Dec	120	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Jan-Mar	83	3	3.6%	81^st
2006 Apr-Jun	107	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Jul-Sep	73	0	0.0%	0^th
2006 Nov-Dec	16	3	18.8%	84^th
2007 Jan-Mar	126	10	7.9%	93^rd
2007 Apr-Jun	112	2	1.8%	66^th
2007 Jul-Sep	119	4	3.4%	83^rd
2007 Oct-Dec	85	2	2.4%	63^rd
2008 Jan-Mar	85	2	2.4%	72^nd
2008 Apr-Jun	77	10	13.0%	93^rd
2008 Jul-Sep	47	5	10.6%	88^th
2008 Oct-Dec	6	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	118	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Apr-Jun	96	1	1.0%	45^th
2009 Jul-Sep	89	6	6.7%	98^th
2009 Oct-Dec	94	7	7.4%	98^th
2010 Jan-Mar	108	5	4.6%	92^nd
2010 Apr-Jun	96	2	2.1%	64^th
2010 Jul-Sep	44	1	2.3%	60^th
2010 Nov-Dec	51	3	5.9%	79^th
2011 Jan-Mar	46	3	6.5%	78^th
2011 Apr-Jun	58	4	6.9%	84^th
2011 Jul-Sep	49	6	12.2%	89^th
2011 Oct-Dec	82	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Jan-Mar	63	1	1.6%	63^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	109	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Jul-Sep	28	9	32.1%	98^th
2012 Nov-Dec	50	7	14.0%	94^th
2013 Jan-Jan	1	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	92	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Apr-Jun	76	9	11.8%	97^th
2013 Jul-Sep	43	5	11.6%	95^th
2013 Oct-Dec	80	27	33.8%	99^th
2014 Jan-Mar	93	5	5.4%	88^th
2014 Apr-Jun	123	1	0.8%	26^th
2014 Jul-Sep	54	0	0.0%	0^th
2014 Nov-Dec	96	29	30.2%	96^th
2015 Jan-Mar	135	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Apr-Jun	85	1	1.2%	46^th
2015 Jul-Sep	52	1	1.9%	58^th
2015 Oct-Dec	67	1	1.5%	47^th
2016 Jan-Mar	38	4	10.5%	89^th
2016 Apr-Jun	79	1	1.3%	45^th
2016 Jul-Sep	34	5	14.7%	87^th
2016 Nov-Dec	12	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jan-Mar	101	1	1.0%	64^th
2017 Apr-Jun	54	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jul-Sep	53	3	5.7%	86^th
2017 Oct-Dec	117	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Jan-Mar	63	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Apr-May	45	0	0.0%	0^th

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
GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills

James “Jim” Inhofe is pronounced:

jaymz // in-HOF

The letters stand for sounds according to the following table:

Letter	Sounds As In
AY ay	say
F f	fat
H h	hat
I i	pin
J j	jam
M m	man
N n	not
O o	top
Z z	zebra

Capital letters indicate a stressed syllable.

Sen. James “Jim” Inhofe

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