Sen. Mitch McConnell

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for McConnell.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

McConnell is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate 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 McConnell has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Nov 19, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Mitch McConnell sits on the following committees:

• Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Ex Officio
• Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade, Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and Research, Rural Development and Energy subcommittees
• Senate Committee on Appropriations
  Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Defense, Energy and Water Development, Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittees
• Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

Enacted Legislation

McConnell was the primary sponsor of 29 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

• S. 1091: A bill to designate certain future interstates and high priority corridors in Kentucky, and for other purposes.
• S. 4547 (116th): Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020
• S. 2985 (116th): Kentucky Wildlands National Heritage Area Study Act
• S. 32 (116th): Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument Act
• S. 2710 (115th): Protecting Moms and Infants Act
• S. 2667 (115th): Hemp Farming Act of 2018
• S. 799 (114th): Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015

View All »

Does 29 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

McConnell sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (17%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (17%) Government Operations and Politics (12%) International Affairs (12%) Economics and Public Finance (12%) Transportation and Public Works (12%) Crime and Law Enforcement (8%) Environmental Protection (8%)

Recent Bills

Some of McConnell’s most recently sponsored bills include...

• S.Res. 386: A resolution relative to the death of Robert Britton “Bob” Dove, Parliamentarian Emeritus …
• S.Res. 189: A resolution congratulating the University of Kentucky’s Women’s Volleyball Team for winning the …
• S. 1133: Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act
• S. 1091: A bill to designate certain future interstates and high priority corridors in Kentucky, …
• S.Res. 32: A resolution to constitute the minority party’s membership on certain committees for the …
• S.Res. 5: A resolution honoring the memory of Officer Brian David Sicknick of the United …
• S.Res. 2: A resolution informing the House of Representatives that a quorum of the Senate …

View All » | View Cosponsors »

As Senate Minority Leader, McConnell may be focused on his responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting his party, and brokering deals.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Missed Votes

From Jan 1985 to Nov 2021, McConnell missed 84 of 12,395 roll call votes, which is 0.7%. This is better than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators 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 and major life events.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

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

• unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
• The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
• United States Congressional Roll Call Voting Records, 1789-1990 by Howard L. Rosenthal and Keith T. Poole.
• Martis’s “The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress”, via Keith Poole’s roll call votes data set, for political party affiliation for Members of Congress from 1789 through about year 2000
• GPO Member Guide for the photo
• GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills