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Sen. Richard Burr

Senator for North Carolina

pronounced RI-cherd // ber

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Burr is the senior senator from North Carolina and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 4, 2005. Burr is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

He was previously the representative for North Carolina’s 5th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2004.

Burr has cosponsored 11 bills introduced in the current Congress by Republican legislators who fomented the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by calling for entire states to be disenfranchised in the 2020 presidential election.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In March 2020, Sen. Burr was accused of covid19 stock profiteering by selling stocks based on information learned in non-public briefings. On March 20, Sen. Burr asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to open an investigation into his actions. There is no indication that the Committee has acted on his request. On March 30, news reports indicated that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) were investigating Sen. Burr. On May 14, Sen. Burr stepped down as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee after it was reported that the FBI had seized his mobile phone.

Mar. 17, 2020 Sen. Burr asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to open an investigation into his actions.
Mar. 30, 2020 Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) began an investigation
May. 13, 2020 The FBI seized Sen. Burr's mobile phone.
May. 14, 2020 Sen. Burr stepped down as chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Photo of Sen. Richard Burr [R-NC]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Burr.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Burr 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 Burr has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jun 21, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

United States Chamber of Commerce: 89% The Club for Growth: 74% The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws: D League of Conservation Voters: 9% American Civil Liberties Union: 0% Human Rights Campaign: 0% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Committee Membership

Richard Burr sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Burr was the primary sponsor of 31 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 31 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

Burr sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Armed Forces and National Security (36%) Taxation (14%) Transportation and Public Works (11%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (11%) Health (8%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Education (6%) International Affairs (6%)

Recent Bills

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

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Burr voted Nay

Bill Passed 91/2 on Dec 10, 2019.
Many hands make light work. At 335 pages, March’s $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act only came together so quickly by ...

Burr voted Not Voting

Conference Report Agreed to 83/16 on Feb 14, 2019.
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, ...

Burr voted Nay

Bill Passed 86/11 on Jun 28, 2018.
See the Congressional Research Service's 122-page summary of the bill. * * * H.R. 2 amends and extends major programs for income support, food and ...

Burr voted Yea

Bill Passed 72/26 on Sep 28, 2016.
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 ...

Burr voted Yea

Joint Resolution Passed 78/22 on Sep 18, 2014.

Burr voted Nay

Bill Passed 83/14 on May 15, 2013.

Burr voted Yea

Burr voted Yea

Motion Agreed to 81/19 on Dec 15, 2010.
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 ...

Burr voted Nay

Bill Passed 79/14 on Dec 14, 2007.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub.L. 110–234, H.R. 2419, 122 Stat. 923, enacted May 22, 2008, also known as the 2008 U.S. ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2005 to Jun 2021, Burr missed 224 of 5,207 roll call votes, which is 4.3%. This is much worse than the median of 1.6% 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: