Sen. Mike Lee’s 2018 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Utah
Republican
Serving Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2029
These statistics cover Lee’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.
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 Lee’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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Joined bipartisan bills the 3rd least often compared to All SenatorsOf the 143 bills that Lee cosponsored, 15% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (4th percentile); All Senators (2nd 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 their bills out of committee the 3rd least often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Lee introduced 3 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 78: Modernizing Government Travel Act; S. 118: Reinforcing American-Made Products Act of …; S.Res. 92: A resolution expressing concern over … Compare to all Senate Republicans (4th percentile); All Senators (5th percentile). |
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Held the 6th most committee positions compared to All Senators (tied with 5 others)Lee held a leadership position on 1 committee and 2 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Lee’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Republicans (88th percentile); All Senators (89th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 11th fewest bills compared to All SenatorsLee cosponsored 143 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 Senate Republicans (20th percentile); All Senators (10th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 13th fewest bills compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 3 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 15 of Lee’s 49 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Lee caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Senate Republicans (24th percentile); All Senators (30th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Ranked 24th most politically right compared to All SenatorsOur 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 the 115th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Lee’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (52nd percentile); All Senators (76th percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the 25th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 17 others)GovTrack looked at whether Lee supported any of 14 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Lee 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Lee cosponsored S. 333: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act … Compare to all Senate Republicans (48th percentile); All Senators (24th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedLee introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th 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: S. 78: Modernizing Government Travel Act Compare to all Senate Republicans (2nd percentile); All Senators (6th 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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Bills IntroducedLee introduced 49 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (64th percentile); All Senators (58th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors8 of Lee’s bills and resolutions in the 115th 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. Those bills were: S. 78: Modernizing Government Travel Act; S. 244: Davis-Bacon Repeal Act; S. 801: Working Families Flexibility Act of …; S. 1216: Due Process Guarantee Act; S. 1505: SHUSH Act; S. 2847: Standard Merger and Acquisition Reviews …; S. 3003: Inspector General Access Act of …; S.J.Res. 7: A joint resolution proposing an … Compare to all Senate Republicans (70th percentile); All Senators (69th percentile). |
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Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 103: Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act …; S. 118: Reinforcing American-Made Products Act of …; S. 185: Head Start Improvement Act of …; S. 299: Agency Accountability Act of 2017; S. 740: Voluntary Checkoff Program Participation Act; S. 741: Opportunities for Fairness in Farming …; S. 1649: RBI Act; S. 1654: Email Privacy Act; S. 1746: CBO Show Your Work Act; S.J.Res. 38: A joint resolution providing for … Compare to all Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (41st percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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CosponsorsLee’s bills and resolutions had 250 cosponsors in the 115th 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 Senate Republicans (58th percentile); All Senators (46th percentile). |
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Leadership ScoreOur 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 the 115th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Lee’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (56th percentile); All Senators (59th percentile). |
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Missed VotesLee missed 1.7% of votes (10 of 599 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Lee’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (62nd 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 115th Congress) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
