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Sen. Patrick Leahy

Senator for Vermont

pronounced PAT-chrik // LAY-hee

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Leahy is the senior senator from Vermont and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 14, 1975. Leahy is next up for reelection in 2022.

Photo of Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2018 Report Card for Leahy.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Leahy 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 Leahy has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Mar 14, 2019. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Patrick Leahy sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Leahy was the primary sponsor of 104 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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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

Leahy sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Crime and Law Enforcement (26%) Government Operations and Politics (19%) Taxation (13%) International Affairs (13%) Immigration (9%) Commerce (9%) Health (6%) Agriculture and Food (4%)

Recent Bills

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

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Leahy’s Vote Vote Description
Yea H.J.Res. 31: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019
Feb 14, 2019. Conference Report Agreed to 83/16.
This bill, in its final form, funded the parts of the federal government whose funding was to lapse on February 15, 2019. On December 22, 2018 the 115th Congress was unable to reach a deal to fund some federal agencies through fiscal year 2019 after ...
Yea On the Nomination PN1620: Charles P. Rettig, of California, to be Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the term expiring November 12, 2022
Sep 12, 2018. Nomination Confirmed 64/33.
Yea H.R. 1892: Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018, the SUSTAIN Care Act of 2018; Family First Prevention Services Act.; Honoring Hometown ...
Feb 9, 2018. Motion Agreed to 71/28.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have occurred on February 9, 2018 had this bill not been enacted. The bill was introduced as the Honoring Hometown Heroes ...
Nay H.R. 2810: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018
Sep 18, 2017. Bill Passed 89/8.
H.R. 2810 authorizes and prioritizes funding for the Department of Defense (DoD) and military activities and construction, and prescribes military personnel strengths for Fiscal Year 2018. The bill authorizes $613.8 billion in base funding, including a $28.5 billion increase above the President’s budget for essential ...
Yea On the Nomination PN372: Kevin Christopher Newsom, of Alabama, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit
Aug 1, 2017. Nomination Confirmed 66/31.
Nay H.J.Res. 43: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating ...
Mar 30, 2017. Joint Resolution Passed 51/50.
Joe Biden never got the opportunity to break a single 50-50 Senate tie in eight years as vice president. Mike Pence has already broken two. One from last month has since become law: a measure allowing states to withhold federal Planned Parenthood funding. (The other ...
Nay H.R. 5325: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017
Sep 28, 2016. Bill Passed 72/26.
The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations bill which extended funding at the previous year's levels up to December 9, 2016 (10 weeks). After this, a continuing ...
Yea H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act
Dec 3, 2015. Conference Report Agreed to 83/16.
H.R 22, formerly the Hire More Heroes Act, has become the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647). The DRIVE Act is a major bipartisan transportation bill that would authorize funding ...
Yea H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act
Jul 30, 2015. Bill Passed 65/34.
This vote turned H.R 22, originally the Hire More Heroes Act, into the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647), a major bipartisan transportation bill, and the Export-Import Bank Reform and ...
Nay H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 18, 2014. Joint Resolution Passed 78/22.
Nay H.R. 4853 (111th): Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010
Dec 15, 2010. Motion Agreed to 81/19.
The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known as the 2010 Tax Relief Act, was passed by the United States Congress on December 16, 2010, and signed into ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 1975 to Mar 2019, Leahy missed 599 of 16,402 roll call votes, which is 3.7%. This is much worse than the median of 1.4% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

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Primary Sources

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

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