Rep. Steny Hoyer’s 2018 Report Card
House Minority Whip
Representative
from Maryland's 5th District
Democrat
Serving Jan 5, 1981 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Hoyer’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.
Members of Congress with party leadership roles often do not participate in the legislative process in the same way as other Members of Congress. Since Hoyer was busy being House Minority Whip, the metrics of legislative activity listed below may not apply.
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 Hoyer’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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Cosponsored the fewest bills compared to Maryland DelegationHoyer cosponsored 100 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 Maryland Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (5th percentile); House Democrats (3rd percentile); All Representatives (5th percentile). |
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Wrote the most laws compared to Maryland Delegation (tied with 1 other)Hoyer introduced 2 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: H.R. 4872: End The Shutdown Act of …; H.J.Res. 76: Granting the consent and approval … Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); House Democrats (76th percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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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Was 2nd most absent in votes compared to Maryland DelegationHoyer missed 5.0% of votes (61 of 1,210 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Hoyer’s Profile » Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (67th percentile); All Representatives (71st 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. |
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Got their bills out of committee the 23rd most often compared to House Democrats (tied with 20 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Hoyer introduced 4 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 4872: End The Shutdown Act of …; H.Con.Res. 36: Authorizing the use of the …; H.Con.Res. 113: Authorizing the use of the …; H.J.Res. 76: Granting the consent and approval … Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (58th percentile); House Democrats (78th percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). |
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Got the 46th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House DemocratsHoyer’s bills and resolutions had 139 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 Maryland Delegation (25th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (28th percentile); House Democrats (22nd percentile); All Representatives (31st percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 50th least often compared to House DemocratsOf the 100 bills that Hoyer cosponsored, 22% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (48th percentile); House Democrats (25th 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. |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 48th fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 20 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Hoyer’s 9 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Hoyer caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); House Democrats (28th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Introduced the 64th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 19 others)Hoyer introduced 9 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (14th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors3 of Hoyer’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: H.Res. 526: Congratulating the National Federation of …; H.R. 1059: Russia Sanctions Review Act of …; H.R. 6437: Secure America from Russian Interference … Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (37th percentile); House Democrats (37th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 1059: Russia Sanctions Review Act of …; H.R. 7397: To provide further additional continuing … Compare to all Maryland Delegation (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (32nd percentile); House Democrats (34th percentile); All Representatives (37th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsHoyer 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 Hoyer’s Profile » Compare to all Maryland Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Hoyer supported any of 32 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Hoyer 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Hoyer cosponsored H.R. 4396: ME TOO Congress Act Compare to all Maryland Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19th percentile); House Democrats (16th percentile); All Representatives (19th 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.
