Barrasso is the senior senator from Wyoming and is a Republican. He has served since Jun 25, 2007. Barrasso is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025.
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 2020 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 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 3, 2017 to Dec 7, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
John Barrasso sits on the following committees:
-
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Ranking Member
- Senate Committee on Finance
-
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Africa and Global Health Policy, Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy, Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues subcommittees
Enacted Legislation
Barrasso was the primary sponsor of 18 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 3051 (116th): America’s Conservation Enhancement Act
- S. 4694 (116th): Russian Suspension Agreement Extension Act of 2020
- S. 990 (116th): Platte River Recovery Implementation Program Extension Act
- S. 2194 (116th): PREDATORS Act
- S. 383 (116th): USE IT Act
- S. 1061 (116th): John F. Kennedy Center Reauthorization Act of 2019
- S. 382 (116th): Chronic Wasting Disease Transmission in Cervidae Study Act
Does 18 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:
Environmental Protection (18%) Energy (16%) Health (15%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (15%) Water Resources Development (11%) International Affairs (10%) Animals (10%) Taxation (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Barrasso’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 3287: A bill to provide for the development and issuance of a plan to …
- S. 3152: A bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to disqualify certain …
- S. 2886: CAPE Act
- S. 2587: A bill to oppose the provision of assistance to the People’s Republic of …
- S.Res. 330: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Mike Enzi, former Senator …
- S. 2506: Tree Spiking Mitigation Act of 2021
- S. 2516: A bill to prohibit the United States International Development Finance Corporation from imposing …
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 Dec 2021, Barrasso missed 32 of 4,579 roll call votes, which is 0.7%. This is better than the median of 1.7% 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
