Rep. John Rutherford’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Florida's 4th District
Republican
Served Jan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2023
These statistics cover Rutherford’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Rutherford’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Introduced the 3rd fewest bills compared to House Sophomores (tied with 1 other)Rutherford introduced 7 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (4th percentile); House Sophomores (4th percentile); House Republicans (15th percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 5th least often compared to Florida Delegation (tied with 4 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Rutherford introduced 1 bill in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 2948: To designate the Department of … Compare to all Florida Delegation (15th percentile); House Sophomores (9th percentile); House Republicans (29th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). |
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Got the 15th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House SophomoresRutherford’s bills and resolutions had 152 cosponsors in the 116th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (26th percentile); House Sophomores (25th percentile); House Republicans (53rd percentile); All Representatives (31st percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 30th most bills compared to House RepublicansRutherford cosponsored 331 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (33rd percentile); House Sophomores (44th percentile); House Republicans (85th percentile); All Representatives (46th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 55th most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 331 bills that Rutherford cosponsored, 50% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (81st percentile); House Sophomores (87th percentile); House Republicans (72nd percentile); All Representatives (87th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Was 99th most absent in votes compared to All Representatives (tied with 5 others)Rutherford missed 4.4% of votes (42 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Rutherford’s Profile » Compare to all Florida Delegation (56th percentile); House Sophomores (71st percentile); All Representatives (76th percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
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Laws EnactedRutherford introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: H.R. 2948: To designate the Department of … Compare to all Florida Delegation (48th percentile); House Sophomores (35th percentile); House Republicans (51st percentile); All Representatives (37th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Powerful Cosponsors0 of Rutherford’s bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 2948: To designate the Department of … Compare to all Florida Delegation (11th percentile); House Sophomores (4th percentile); House Republicans (14th percentile); All Representatives (9th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 7 of Rutherford’s 7 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Rutherford caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Florida Delegation (30th percentile); House Sophomores (31st percentile); House Republicans (55th percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsRutherford held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Rutherford’s Profile » Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of the 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
