McConnell is the senior senator from Kentucky and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 3, 1985. McConnell is next up for reelection in 2020.
He is also Senate Majority Leader, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-KY]](/static/legislator-photos/300072-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 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 liberal–conservative 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 6, 2015 to Nov 7, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Mitch McConnell sits on the following committees:
- Ex Officio, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
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Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
- Member, Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade
- Member, Subcommittee on Nutrition, Agricultural Research, and Specialty Crops
- Member, Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy
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Senate Committee on Appropriations
- Member, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on Department of Defense
- Member, Subcommittee on Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
- Member, Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- Member, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
- Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
Enacted Legislation
McConnell was the primary sponsor of 25 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 32: Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument Act
- S. 2667 (115th): Hemp Farming Act of 2018
- S. 799 (114th): Protecting Our Infants Act of 2015
- S. 625 (114th): Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015
- S. 2183 (113th): A bill entitled “United States International Programming to Ukraine and Neighboring Regions”.
- S.J.Res. 29 (111th): A joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
- S.J.Res. 17 (111th): A joint resolution approving the renewal of import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, and for other purposes.
Does 25 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
McConnell sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (26%) Health (15%) Taxation (11%) Crime and Law Enforcement (11%) Environmental Protection (11%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (11%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) Government Operations and Politics (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of McConnell’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 2742: Federal Prisons Accountability Act of 2019
- S.Res. 384: A resolution to authorize testimony in United States v. Margaret Murphy.
- S.J.Res. 59: A joint resolution expressing the sense of Congress on the precipitous withdrawal of ...
- S.Res. 368: A resolution to authorize the production of records by the Permanent Subcommittee on ...
- S. 2251: AGED Spirits Act
- S.Res. 240: A resolution relative to the death of Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie, Former Chaplain ...
- S. 1541: Tobacco-Free Youth Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As Senate Majority 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 2019, McConnell missed 84 of 11,556 roll call votes, which is 0.7%. This is better than the median of 1.5% 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.
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
