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Rep. Scott DesJarlais’s 2019 Report Card

Representative from Tennessee's 4th District
Republican
Serving Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2025

These year-end statistics cover DesJarlais’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.

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 DesJarlais’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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Was 2nd most absent in votes compared to Tennessee Delegation

DesJarlais missed 3.7% of votes (26 of 701 votes) in 2019. View DesJarlais’s Profile »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); All Representatives (76th percentile).

The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics.
 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 2nd fewest bills compared to Tennessee Delegation (tied with 2 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 1 of DesJarlais’s 7 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party DesJarlais caucused with in 2019.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (11th percentile); House Republicans (6th percentile); All Representatives (3rd percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Joined bipartisan bills the 15th least often compared to House Republicans

Of the 130 bills that DesJarlais cosponsored, 25% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (33rd percentile); House Republicans (7th percentile); All Representatives (56th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Got the 51st fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 3 others)

DesJarlais’s bills and resolutions had 26 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Tennessee Delegation (22nd percentile); House Republicans (22nd percentile); All Representatives (11th percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 94th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

DesJarlais cosponsored 130 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 Tennessee Delegation (44th percentile); House Republicans (44th percentile); All Representatives (21st percentile).

 

Introduced the 86th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 18 others)

DesJarlais introduced 7 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (33rd percentile); House Republicans (37th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

DesJarlais introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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.
 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. DesJarlais introduced 0 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Powerful Cosponsors

2 of DesJarlais’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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: H.R. 1341: To designate the Mental Health …; H.R. 4337: Property Rights for Patriots Act

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (56th percentile); House Republicans (62nd percentile); All Representatives (40th percentile).

 

Working with the Senate

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 0 of DesJarlais’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Committee Positions

DesJarlais held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View DesJarlais’s Profile »

Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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 2019) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.