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Rep. Steny Hoyer’s 2020 Report Card

House Majority Leader
Representative from Maryland's 5th District
Democrat
Serving Jan 5, 1981 – Jan 3, 2025

These statistics cover Hoyer’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Majority Leader, 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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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to All Representatives

Of the 63 bills that Hoyer cosponsored, 0% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (0th percentile); House Party Leaders (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

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

Wrote the 2nd most laws compared to House Party Leaders

Hoyer introduced 2 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th 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. 2468: School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management …; H.R. 5430: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (62nd percentile); House Party Leaders (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); House Democrats (57th percentile); All Representatives (67th 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.
 

Got bicameral support on the 2nd most bills compared to House Party Leaders

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 6 of Hoyer’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.

Those bills were: H.Res. 120: Honoring the life, achievements, and …; H.R. 5430: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act; H.R. 6131: To direct the Architect of …; H.R. 7573: To direct the Joint Committee …; H.R. 8488: Southern Maryland National Heritage Area …; H.Con.Res. 9: Providing for a joint session …

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (62nd percentile); House Party Leaders (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (71st percentile); House Democrats (62nd percentile); All Representatives (74th percentile).

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

Was 3rd most present in votes compared to House Party Leaders

Hoyer missed 1.6% of votes (15 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Hoyer’s Profile »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (50th percentile); House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (30th percentile); All Representatives (38th 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.
 

Cosponsored the 4th fewest bills compared to House Democrats

Hoyer cosponsored 63 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 (12th percentile); House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (3rd percentile); House Democrats (1st percentile); All Representatives (2nd percentile).

 

Got their bills out of committee the 6th most often compared to All Representatives

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Hoyer introduced 19 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.Res. 2: To inform the Senate that …; H.Res. 3: Authorizing the Speaker to appoint …; H.Res. 6: Adopting the Rules of the …; H.Res. 22: Authorizing the Speaker to administer …; H.Res. 120: Honoring the life, achievements, and …; H.Res. 143: Electing the Clerk of the …; H.Res. 635: Expressing the profound sorrow of …; H.Res. 776: Providing for a committee to …; H.Res. 777: To inform the Senate that …; H.Res. 778: Providing for the hour of …; H.Res. 911: Relating to House Resolution 891, …; H.Res. 1233: Providing for the printing of …; H.R. 2468: School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management …; H.R. 5430: United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act; H.R. 7573: To direct the Joint Committee …; H.Con.Res. 9: Providing for a joint session …; H.Con.Res. 19: Authorizing the use of the …; H.Con.Res. 86: Providing for a joint session …; H.J.Res. 30: Disapproving the President’s proposal to …

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88th percentile); House Party Leaders (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (97th percentile); House Democrats (97th percentile); All Representatives (99th percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 9th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 4 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 2 of Hoyer’s 23 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Hoyer caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (14th percentile); House Party Leaders (33rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (10th percentile); House Democrats (3rd percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile).

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

Got the 18th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House Democrats

Hoyer’s bills and resolutions had 94 cosponsors in the 116th 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 (38th percentile); House Party Leaders (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (22nd percentile); House Democrats (7th percentile); All Representatives (20th percentile).

 

Ranked the 23rd bottom/follower compared to House Democrats

Our 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 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Hoyer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (25th percentile); House Party Leaders (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile).

 

Got influential cosponsors the 41st least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 25 others)

3 of Hoyer’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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.R. 2468: School-Based Allergies and Asthma Management …; H.R. 6131: To direct the Architect of …; H.R. 7573: To direct the Joint Committee …

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (38th percentile); House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (31st percentile); House Democrats (17th percentile); All Representatives (37th percentile).

 

Bills Introduced

Hoyer introduced 23 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (50th percentile); House Party Leaders (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (55th percentile); House Democrats (34th percentile); All Representatives (54th percentile).

 

Committee Positions

Hoyer 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); House Party Leaders (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Ideology Score

Our 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 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Hoyer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (50th percentile); House Party Leaders (33rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); House Democrats (69th percentile); All Representatives (38th 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 116th Congress) 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.