Sen. Ron Johnson’s 2018 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Wisconsin
Republican
Serving Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2029
These statistics cover Johnson’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.
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 Johnson’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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Supported government transparency the 6th most often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 5 others)GovTrack looked at whether Johnson supported any of 14 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Johnson 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Johnson cosponsored S. 333: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act …; S.Res. 323: STOP Sexual Harassment Resolution Compare to all Senate Republicans (78th percentile); All Senators (42nd percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 9th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Johnson introduced 23 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 34: Midnight Rules Relief Act of …; S. 204: Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan …; S. 576: Follow the Rules Act; S. 582: Office of Special Counsel Reauthorization …; S. 585: Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection …; S. 1083: A bill to amend section …; S. 1103: Department of Homeland Security Blue …; S. 1584: A bill to amend the …; S. 1896: TSA LEAP Pay Reform Act …; S. 2221: RIP MSP Act; S. 2296: GOOD Act; S. 2322: CURD Act; S. 2836: Preventing Emerging Threats Act of …; S. 3041: Disaster Recovery Reform Act of …; S. 3137: Reforming Government Act of 2018; S. 3208: Federal Information Systems Safeguards Act …; S. 3405: Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities …; S. 3487: Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of …; S.Res. 154: A resolution promoting awareness of …; S.Res. 346: A resolution recognizing the importance …; S.Res. 432: A resolution congratulating the Baltic …; S.Res. 709: A resolution condemning Russia’s provocative …; S.J.Res. 12: A joint resolution disapproving the … Compare to all Senate Republicans (80th percentile); All Senators (88th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 12th most often compared to All Senators11 of Johnson’s bills and resolutions in the 115th 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: S. 164: A bill to direct the …; S. 576: Follow the Rules Act; S. 582: Office of Special Counsel Reauthorization …; S. 1083: A bill to amend section …; S. 1103: Department of Homeland Security Blue …; S. 1584: A bill to amend the …; S. 2836: Preventing Emerging Threats Act of …; S. 3041: Disaster Recovery Reform Act of …; S.Res. 346: A resolution recognizing the importance …; S.Res. 709: A resolution condemning Russia’s provocative …; S.Res. 746: A resolution calling for a … Compare to all Senate Republicans (86th percentile); All Senators (88th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 12th fewest bills compared to All SenatorsJohnson cosponsored 150 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 Senate Republicans (22nd percentile); All Senators (11th percentile). |
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Wrote the 13th most laws compared to All Senators (tied with 5 others)Johnson introduced 7 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: S. 204: Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan …; S. 576: Follow the Rules Act; S. 585: Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection …; S. 1083: A bill to amend section …; S. 1103: Department of Homeland Security Blue …; S. 2836: Preventing Emerging Threats Act of …; S.J.Res. 12: A joint resolution disapproving the … Compare to all Senate Republicans (70th percentile); All Senators (82nd 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. |
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Ranked the 24th top leader compared to All SenatorsOur 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 115th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Johnson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (74th percentile); All Senators (76th percentile). |
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Bills IntroducedJohnson introduced 35 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (44th percentile); All Senators (35th percentile). |
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Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 34: Midnight Rules Relief Act of …; S. 238: A bill to authorize the …; S. 576: Follow the Rules Act; S. 1553: Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues …; S. 2221: RIP MSP Act; S. 2322: CURD Act; S. 3208: Federal Information Systems Safeguards Act …; S.Res. 64: A resolution congratulating the Plastics …; S.Res. 154: A resolution promoting awareness of …; S.Res. 206: A resolution urging the Secretary …; S.J.Res. 12: A joint resolution disapproving the … Compare to all Senate Republicans (52nd percentile); All Senators (44th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 19 of Johnson’s 35 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Johnson caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Senate Republicans (44th percentile); All Senators (43rd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsJohnson held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Johnson’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Republicans (70th percentile); All Senators (66th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 150 bills that Johnson cosponsored, 23% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (38th percentile); All Senators (28th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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CosponsorsJohnson’s bills and resolutions had 281 cosponsors in the 115th 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 Senate Republicans (68th percentile); All Senators (56th percentile). |
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Ideology ScoreOur 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 115th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Johnson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (48th percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
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Missed VotesJohnson missed 0.8% of votes (5 of 599 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Johnson’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (39th 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 115th Congress) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
