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Rep. Paul Mitchell’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Michigan's 10th District
Independent
Served Jan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2021

These statistics cover Mitchell’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Mitchell’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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Ranked most politically right compared to Michigan Delegation

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 the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Mitchell’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (93rd percentile); House Sophomores (69th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile).

 

Was most absent in votes compared to Michigan Delegation

Mitchell missed 8.4% of votes (80 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Mitchell’s Profile »

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (93rd percentile); House Sophomores (85th percentile); All Representatives (89th 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.
 

Introduced the 2nd fewest bills compared to Michigan Delegation (tied with 2 others)

Mitchell introduced 11 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (7th percentile); House Sophomores (15th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile).

 

Got their bills out of committee the 3rd least often compared to Michigan Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Mitchell introduced 1 bill in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 2847: No Passport Fees for Heroes’ …

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (14th percentile); House Sophomores (9th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 15th fewest bills compared to House Sophomores

Mitchell cosponsored 212 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 Michigan Delegation (29th percentile); House Sophomores (25th percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Mitchell introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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.
 

Powerful Cosponsors

3 of Mitchell’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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: H.Res. 814: Expressing support for the designation …; H.R. 1536: Protecting Our Children’s Future Act …; H.R. 1766: College Transparency Act

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (36th percentile); House Sophomores (45th percentile); All Representatives (37th percentile).

 

Working with the Senate

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 3 of Mitchell’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.Res. 44: Expressing support for the designation …; H.Res. 814: Expressing support for the designation …; H.R. 1766: College Transparency Act

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (50th percentile); House Sophomores (40th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile).

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

Committee Positions

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

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Cosponsors

Mitchell’s bills and resolutions had 315 cosponsors in the 116th 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 Michigan Delegation (36th percentile); House Sophomores (65th percentile); All Representatives (56th 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Mitchell’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Michigan Delegation (43rd percentile); House Sophomores (73rd percentile); All Representatives (61st 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 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.