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Rep. Joaquin Castro

Representative for Texas’s 20th District

pronounced wah-KEEN // KAST-roh

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Castro is the representative for Texas’s 20th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Castro is next up for reelection in 2020.

Photo of Rep. Joaquin Castro [D-TX20]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2018 Report Card for Castro.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Castro 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 liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Castro has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Apr 22, 2019. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Joaquin Castro sits on the following committees:

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Castro sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

International Affairs (30%) Armed Forces and National Security (16%) Education (14%) Immigration (11%) Science, Technology, Communications (9%) Government Operations and Politics (9%) Taxation (7%) Crime and Law Enforcement (5%)

Recent Bills

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

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Castro’s Vote Vote Description
Yea H.R. 6157: Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019
Sep 26, 2018. Passed 361/61.
H.R. 6157 provides $674.6 billion in total discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense for fiscal year (FY) 2019. The bill provides $606.5 billion for the Department of Defense base budget, which is an increase of $17.1 billion above FY18 levels, and $68.1 billion ...
Nay H.R. 6237: Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019
Jul 12, 2018. Passed 363/54.
H.R. 6237 authorizes appropriations for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the U.S. government for fiscal years 2018 and 2019. The bill authorizes funds for the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the: Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Central Intelligence Agency; Department of Defense; Defense ...
Aye H.R. 5247: Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2018
Mar 21, 2018. Passed 267/149.
H.R. 5247 authorizes the use of eligible investigational drugs by patients who have been diagnosed with certain illnesses, who have exhausted the approved treatment options and are not eligible to participate in a clinical trial. The bill defines an eligible patient as those with “a ...
Nay H.R. 2825: DHS Authorization Act of 2017
Jul 20, 2017. Passed 386/41.
H.R. 2825 authorizes the activities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and provides necessary oversight and guidance to the Department to ensure that it is effectively carrying out the mission of securing the homeland. A full section-by-section of the legislation can be found here ...
Nay H.R. 1039: Probation Officer Protection Act of 2017
May 19, 2017. Passed 229/177.
H.R. 1039 amends the federal criminal code to authorize a probation officer to arrest a person, without warrant, if there is probable cause to believe that person forcibly assaulted or obstructed a probation officer while performing their official duties. The bill also would direct the ...
No H.J.Res. 43: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating ...
Feb 16, 2017. Passed 230/188.
Joe Biden never got the opportunity to break a single 50-50 Senate tie in eight years as vice president. Mike Pence has already broken two. One from last month has since become law: a measure allowing states to withhold federal Planned Parenthood funding. (The other ...
No H.Res. 546: Providing for consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 22) to authorize funds for Federal-aid ...
Dec 3, 2015. Passed 384/40.
Not Voting H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015
May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88.
The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
Yea H.R. 622: State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 2015
Apr 16, 2015. Passed 272/152.
Aye H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
Nay H.Res. 23 (113th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 152) making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September ...
Jan 15, 2013. Passed 367/52.

Missed Votes

From Jan 2013 to Apr 2019, Castro missed 143 of 3,906 roll call votes, which is 3.7%. This is worse than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: