Barrasso is the junior senator from Wyoming and is a Republican. He has served since Jun 25, 2007. Barrasso is next up for reelection in 2024.
He is also Senate Republican Conference Chair, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Sen. John Barrasso [R-WY]](/static/legislator-photos/412251-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Barrasso.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Barrasso 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 Barrasso has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Oct 17, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
John Barrasso sits on the following committees:
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Chair,
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight
- Ex Officio, Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
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Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
- Member, Subcommittee on National Parks
- Member, Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
- Member, Subcommittee on Water and Power
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Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
- Member, Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation
- Member, Subcommittee on Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy
- Member, Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues
- Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Enacted Legislation
Barrasso was the primary sponsor of 10 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 268: Wildlife Innovation and Longevity Driver Act
- S. 512 (115th): Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act
- S. 40: Bureau of Reclamation Transparency Act
- S. 199: A bill to authorize the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir.
- S. 2717 (114th): DRIFT Act of 2016
- S. 1934 (113th): Clifford P. Hansen Federal Courthouse Conveyance Act
- S. 306 (113th): Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act
Does 10 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
Barrasso sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Native Americans (20%) Energy (14%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (14%) Water Resources Development (14%) Environmental Protection (12%) Health (12%) Taxation (7%) Transportation and Public Works (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Barrasso’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 2302: America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act of 2019
- S. 2262: Expedited Disability Insurance Payments for Terminally Ill Individuals Act of 2019
- S. 2194: PREDATORS Act
- S. 2031: Veterans Enhancing Transportation Act
- S. 1992: A bill to amend the FAST Act to repeal a rescission of funds.
- S. 1830: Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe Act of 2019
- S. 1811: A bill to make technical corrections to the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of ...
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As Senate Republican Conference Chair, Barrasso 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 Jun 2007 to Oct 2019, Barrasso missed 18 of 3,697 roll call votes, which is 0.5%. This is better 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
