Durbin is the senior senator from Illinois and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 7, 1997. Durbin is next up for reelection in 2026 and serves until Jan 3, 2027. He is 78 years old.
He is also Senate Majority Whip, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
He was previously the representative for Illinois’s 20th congressional district as a Democrat from 1983 to 1996.
![Photo of Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]](/static/legislator-photos/300038-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 Report Card for Durbin.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Durbin 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 Durbin has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Mar 30, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Richard Durbin sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Durbin was the primary sponsor of 45 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 2834 (117th): Dr. Joanne Smith Memorial Rehabilitation Innovation Centers Act of 2022
- S. 3103 (117th): Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022
- S. 1344 (117th): Pullman National Historical Park Act
- S. 3141 (117th): New Philadelphia National Historical Park Act
- S. 4089 (117th): Veterans Rapid Retraining Assistance Program Restoration and Recovery Act of 2022
- S. 3574 (117th): A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 303 East Mississippi Avenue in Elwood, Illinois, as the Lawrence M “Larry” Walsh …
- S. 936 (117th): INFORM Consumers Act
Does 45 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
Durbin sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Crime and Law Enforcement (22%) Health (21%) Education (15%) International Affairs (12%) Immigration (9%) Government Operations and Politics (8%) Labor and Employment (8%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Durbin recently introduced the following legislation:
- S. 1152: A bill to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders.
- S. 1151: A bill to terminate authorizations for the use of military force and declarations …
- S. 1040: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to prohibit smoking on …
- S. 1056: A bill to give Federal courts additional discretion to determine whether pretrial detention …
- S. 978: A bill to expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve …
- S. 979: A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reform and reduce …
- S. 858: Cameras in the Courtroom Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
As Senate Majority Whip, Durbin 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 1997 to Mar 2023, Durbin missed 103 of 8,579 roll call votes, which is 1.2%. This is better than the median of 2.3% 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, major life events, and running for higher office.
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