Inhofe is the senior senator from Oklahoma and is a Republican. He has served since Nov 17, 1994. Inhofe is next up for reelection in 2026 and serves until Jan 3, 2027.
He was previously the representative for Oklahoma’s 1st congressional district as a Republican from 1987 to 1994.
![Photo of Sen. James “Jim” Inhofe [R-OK]](/static/legislator-photos/300055-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 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 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 from Jan 3, 2017 to Mar 4, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
James “Jim” Inhofe sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Inhofe was the primary sponsor of 30 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 1790 (116th): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020
- S. 2840 (116th): Essential National Security Authorities Act for Fiscal Year 2020
- S. 2731 (116th): Essential National Security Authorities Act for Fiscal Year 2020
- S. 3661 (115th): 75th Anniversary of World War II Commemoration Act
- S. 1266 (115th): Enhancing Veteran Care Act
- S. 1860 (115th): PARs Act
- S. 3217 (114th): A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for an annuity supplement for certain air traffic controllers.
Does 30 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
Inhofe sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Transportation and Public Works (28%) Armed Forces and National Security (25%) Immigration (10%) Taxation (8%) International Affairs (8%) Energy (8%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Environmental Protection (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Inhofe’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 419: A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for a ...
- S. 75: Protecting Individuals with Down Syndrome Act
- S. 39: Protecting American Innovation and Development Act of 2021
- S.Res. 713 (116th): A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the August 13, ...
- S.Res. 704 (116th): A resolution honoring the accomplishments of General Thomas P. Stafford and recognizing ...
- S. 4156 (116th): RELIEF for Producers Act of 2020
- S. 4049 (116th): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Dec 1994 to Mar 2021, Inhofe missed 347 of 8,548 roll call votes, which is 4.1%. This is much worse than the median of 1.5% 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