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Rep. Judy Chu

Representative for California’s 28th District

pronounced JOO-dee // choo

Chu is the representative for California’s 28th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2023. Chu is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. She is 70 years old.

She was previously the representative for California’s 27th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2022; and the representative for California’s 32nd congressional district as a Democrat from 2009 to 2012.

Photo of Rep. Judy Chu [D-CA28]

Misconduct

Rep. Chu was arrested in a protest at the Capitol on June 30, 2022. The House Committee on Ethics released a report indicating she will pay the $50 fine.

Jul. 22, 2022 House Committee on Ethics reported that she will pay a $50 fine

In 2017 Chu was investigated for having been arrested during a December protest outside of the White House. The House Committee on Ethics recommended no action as the fine has been paid.

Dec. 21, 2017 House Committee on Ethics recommended no action as the fine was paid

In 2014 Chu received a letter of reproval for using House staff to perform campaign activities and then obstructing the investigation. The House Committee on Ethics concluded that the campaign work occured without her knowledge but because Chu attempted to obstruct the investigation, a letter of reproval was issued.

Dec. 11, 2014 House Committee on Ethics concluded that the campaign work occured without her knowledge but because Chu attempted to obstruct the investigation, a letter of reproval was issued

Earmarks

Chu proposed $41 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:

  • $10 million to San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority for “San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund”
  • $5 million to City of Monrovia for “County of Los Angeles for Rio Hondo Restoration Project”
  • $5 million to San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust for “San Gabriel Valley Project Pipeline”

These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.

Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2022 Report Card for Chu.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Chu 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 ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Chu has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Sep 30, 2023. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Judy Chu sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Chu was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:

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Does 5 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

Chu sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (29%) Taxation (16%) Education (15%) Immigration (14%) Crime and Law Enforcement (8%) Commerce (8%) Native Americans (6%) Labor and Employment (5%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Chu recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Chu voted No

Passed 314/117 on May 31, 2023.

This bill would enact a compromise reached by House Republicans and President Biden to avert an impending fiscal crisis related to the statutory debt limit. …

Chu voted Yea

Chu voted Nay

Chu voted Yea

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

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 …

Chu voted Aye

Chu voted Nay

Chu voted Aye

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack …

Missed Votes

From Jul 2009 to Sep 2023, Chu missed 212 of 8,917 roll call votes, which is 2.4%. This is on par with the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of representatives 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, major life events, and running for higher office.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

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