Rep. Louie Gohmert’s 2017 Report Card

Ranked 4^th most politically right compared to Serving 10+ Years

Our unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Gohmert’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (81^st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (98^th percentile); House Republicans (90^th percentile); All Representatives (95^th percentile).

Was 4^th most absent in votes compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Gohmert missed 5.6% of votes (40 of 710 votes) in 2017. View Gohmert’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (86^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (80^th percentile); All Representatives (84^th 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.

Joined bipartisan bills the 12^th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years

Of the 181 bills that Gohmert cosponsored, 7% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (8^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7^th percentile); House Republicans (25^th percentile); All Representatives (14^th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.

Got influential cosponsors the 9^th least often compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 7 others)

1 of Gohmert’s bills and resolutions in 2017 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. 2956: Parental Notification and Intervention Act …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (22^nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18^th percentile); House Republicans (20^th percentile); All Representatives (19^th percentile).

Got bicameral support on the 42^nd most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 27 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 4 of Gohmert’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 311: Refusing to Assist Paying for …; H.R. 373: Refusing to Assist Paying for …; H.R. 928: Fracturing Regulations are Effective in …; H.R. 1807: Public Water Supply Invasive Species …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (83^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (82^nd percentile); House Republicans (83^rd percentile); All Representatives (84^th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.

Cosponsored the 57^th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Gohmert cosponsored 181 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 Texas Delegation (56^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (42^nd percentile); House Republicans (76^th percentile); All Representatives (49^th percentile).

Laws Enacted

Gohmert introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (0^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0^th percentile); House Republicans (0^th percentile); All Representatives (0^th 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.

Bills Introduced

Gohmert introduced 11 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (64^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (45^th percentile); House Republicans (50^th percentile); All Representatives (47^th percentile).

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Gohmert introduced 3 bills in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 582: Kari’s Law Act of 2017; H.R. 1807: Public Water Supply Invasive Species …; H.R. 2603: SAVES Act

Compare to all Texas Delegation (53^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (74^th percentile); House Republicans (59^th percentile); All Representatives (72^nd percentile).

Writing Bipartisan Bills

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 3 of Gohmert’s 11 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (36^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (40^th percentile); House Republicans (34^th percentile); All Representatives (37^th percentile).

Committee Positions

Gohmert held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Gohmert’s Profile »

Compare to all Texas Delegation (17^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (20^th percentile); House Republicans (37^th percentile); All Representatives (39^th percentile).

Cosponsors

Gohmert’s bills and resolutions had 137 cosponsors in 2017. 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 Texas Delegation (53^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (48^th percentile); House Republicans (56^th percentile); All Representatives (50^th percentile).

Leadership Score

Our unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Gohmert’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Texas Delegation (61^st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (61^st percentile); House Republicans (55^th percentile); All Representatives (63^rd percentile).

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Gohmert supported any of 21 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Gohmert 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Gohmert cosponsored H.R. 522: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act …; H.R. 732: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act …

Compare to all Texas Delegation (64^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (55^th percentile); House Republicans (68^th percentile); All Representatives (55^th percentile).