Blum was the representative for Iowa’s 1st congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 2015 to 2018.
Alleged misconduct & resolution
In 2018, Blum was accused of omitting required information from financial disclosure reports; permitting the use of official House resources for a private business in which he had a financial interest and the use of unfair or deceptive trade practices. In July 2018, the Office of Congressional Ethics referred the allegations to the House Committee on Ethics for further investigation. In December 2018, the House Committee on Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings and Blum's response. In January 2019, the Committee ceased investigating as its juridiction ended with the 115th Congress.
| Jul. 19, 2018 | Office of Congressional Ethics referred the allegations to the House Committee on Ethics for further investigation. |
| Nov. 6, 2018 | Blum lost the election. |
| Dec. 17, 2018 | Office of Congressional Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings and the member's response. |
| Jan. 2, 2019 | House Committee on Ethics ceased investigating on January 3, 2019 because Blum lost his election and the committee's jurisdiction ended. |
![Photo of Rep. Rod Blum [R-IA1, 2015-2018]](/static/legislator-photos/412627-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Blum.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Blum is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2018 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 Blum sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2013 to Dec 21, 2018. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Blum was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 1074 (115th): To repeal the Act entitled “An Act to confer jurisdiction on the State of Iowa over offenses committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox …
- H.R. 4043 (115th): Whistleblower Protection Extension Act of 2017
- H.R. 4605 (114th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 615 6th Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as the “Sgt. 1st Class Terryl L. …
Does 3 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
Blum sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (31%) Taxation (19%) Crime and Law Enforcement (12%) Health (12%) Native Americans (12%) Commerce (12%)
Recent Bills
Some of Blum’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 6980 (115th): Breast Cancer Patient Equity Act
- H.R. 6446 (115th): White House Conference on Small Business Act of 2018
- H.R. 5144 (115th): Contracting Compliance Act
- H.Con.Res. 99 (115th): Expressing the sense of Congress on the occasion of the 100th anniversary …
- H.R. 4511 (115th): No Golden Parachutes for Public Service Act
- H.R. 4512 (115th): Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2017
- H.R. 4510 (115th): No Congressional Vehicle Leases Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to Dec 2018, Blum missed 84 of 2,535 roll call votes, which is 3.3%. This is on par with the median of 2.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2018. 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.
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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
