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Sen. Robert “Rob” Portman

Senator for Ohio

pronounced RAH-bert // PORT-min

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Portman is the junior senator from Ohio and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 5, 2011. Portman is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

He was previously the representative for Ohio’s 2nd congressional district as a Republican from 1993 to 2005.

Photo of Sen. Robert “Rob” Portman [R-OH]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2019 Report Card for Portman.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Portman 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 Portman has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 6, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

The Club for Growth: 63%

Enacted Legislation

Portman was the primary sponsor of 39 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 39 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

Portman sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (23%) Government Operations and Politics (23%) Taxation (15%) Crime and Law Enforcement (11%) International Affairs (10%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%) Education (6%) Energy (6%)

Recent Bills

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

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

Portman voted Yea

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, ...

Portman voted Nay

Joint Resolution Passed 50/49 on Mar 9, 2017.
H.J.Res. 57 would disapprove and nullify the rule issued by the Department of Education on November 28, 2016, to implement the accountability, data reporting, and ...

Portman 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 ...

Portman voted Yea

Conference Report Agreed to 83/16 on Dec 3, 2015.
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 ...

Portman voted Nay

Bill Passed 76/16 on Dec 16, 2014.

Portman voted Yea

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

Portman voted Yea

Motion Agreed to 64/36 on Dec 18, 2013.
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 (H.J.Res. 59; Pub.L. 113–67) is a federal statute concerning spending and the budget in the United States, that was ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2011 to Jan 2021, Portman missed 40 of 2,965 roll call votes, which is 1.3%. This is on par with 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: