Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s 2019 Report Card
House Minority Leader
Representative
from California's 23rd District
Republican
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2023
These year-end statistics cover McCarthy’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
Members of Congress with party leadership roles often do not participate in the legislative process in the same way as other Members of Congress. Since McCarthy was busy being House Minority Leader, the metrics of legislative activity listed below may not apply.
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 McCarthy’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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Cosponsored the fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)McCarthy cosponsored 18 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 House Party Leaders (0th percentile); California Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 2nd least often compared to House Party Leaders (tied with 1 other)1 of McCarthy’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. Those bills were: H.R. 1600: RAILWAY Act Compare to all House Party Leaders (11th percentile); California Delegation (13th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Republicans (36th percentile); All Representatives (22nd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 4th most often compared to California DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 18 bills that McCarthy cosponsored, 50% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all House Party Leaders (89th percentile); California Delegation (92nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (81st percentile); House Republicans (65th percentile); All Representatives (84th 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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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 3rd fewest bills compared to California Delegation (tied with 3 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 1 of McCarthy’s 9 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party McCarthy caucused with in 2019. Compare to all House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); California Delegation (4th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (3rd percentile); House Republicans (6th percentile); All Representatives (3rd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Got the 5th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to California DelegationMcCarthy’s bills and resolutions had 25 cosponsors in 2019. 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 House Party Leaders (11th percentile); California Delegation (8th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (10th percentile); House Republicans (21st percentile); All Representatives (11th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 5th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. McCarthy introduced 5 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.Res. 9: Providing for the designation of …; H.Res. 590: Raising a question of the …; H.Res. 603: Raising a question of the …; H.Res. 770: Disapproving the manner in which …; H.R. 2695: To rename the Success Dam … Compare to all House Party Leaders (56th percentile); California Delegation (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (76th percentile); House Republicans (96th percentile); All Representatives (87th percentile). |
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Introduced the 9th fewest bills compared to California Delegation (tied with 1 other)McCarthy introduced 9 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); California Delegation (15th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); House Republicans (51st percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 70th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 34 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.Res. 590: Raising a question of the …; H.Res. 603: Raising a question of the …; H.R. 2858: FORWARD Act of 2019; H.Con.Res. 6: Providing for a joint session … Compare to all House Party Leaders (67th percentile); California Delegation (63rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (70th percentile); House Republicans (88th percentile); All Representatives (76th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Laws EnactedMcCarthy introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. 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. 2695: To rename the Success Dam … Compare to all House Party Leaders (67th percentile); California Delegation (54th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Republicans (69th percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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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Committee PositionsMcCarthy 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 McCarthy’s Profile » Compare to all House Party Leaders (0th percentile); California Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Missed VotesMcCarthy missed 1.7% of votes (12 of 701 votes) in 2019. View McCarthy’s Profile » Compare to all House Party Leaders (44th percentile); California Delegation (50th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (43rd percentile); All Representatives (49th 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. |
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 2019) 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.
