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Rep. Thomas Garrett

Former Representative for Virginia’s 5th District

pronounced TOM-iss // GAR-it

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Garrett was the representative for Virginia’s 5th congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 2017 to 2018.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

In May 2018, Garrett announced he is an alcoholic and that he would not run for re-election at the same time that allegations that he had been using Congressional staff to perform unofficial work and personal errands emerged. In September 2018, the Office of Congressional Ethics referred the allegations to the House Committee on Ethics. In December 2018, the House Committee on Ethics announced it was extending its investigation The investigation ceased with the end of the 115th Congress as Garrett is no longer in Congress.

May. 28, 2018 Garrett announced he is an alcoholic and would not run for re-election.
Sep. 5, 2018 Office of Congressional Ethics referred the allegations to the House Committee on Ethics for further investigation.
Dec. 4, 2018 House Committee on Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings and the member's response.
Jan. 2, 2019 House Committee on Ethics ceased investigating because jurisdiction ended with the 115th Congress.
Photo of Rep. Thomas Garrett [R-VA5, 2017-2018]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2018 Report Card for Garrett.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Garrett 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 liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Garrett sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2013 to Dec 21, 2018. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Americans for Prosperity: 100% FreedomWorks: 95% NumbersUSA: 83% NIAC Action: D Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Enacted Legislation

Garrett was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:

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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

Garrett sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Government Operations and Politics (43%) Crime and Law Enforcement (21%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (21%) International Affairs (14%)

Recent Bills

Some of Garrett’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Garrett’s Vote Vote Description
Nay H.R. 6157: Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019
Sep 26, 2018. Passed 361/61.
H.R. 6157 provides $674.6 billion in total discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense for fiscal year (FY) 2019. The bill provides $606.5 billion for the Department of Defense base budget, which is an increase of $17.1 billion above FY18 levels, and $68.1 billion ...
No H.R. 1892: Further Extension of Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2018; SUSTAIN Care Act of 2018; Honoring Hometown Heroes Act
Feb 9, 2018. Passed 240/186.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have occurred on February 9, 2018 had this bill not been enacted. The bill was introduced as the Honoring Hometown Heroes ...
Nay H.R. 4667: Making further supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2018, for disaster assistance for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and calendar year 2017 wildfires, ...
Dec 21, 2017. Passed 251/169.
Nay H.R. 1039: Probation Officer Protection Act of 2017
May 19, 2017. Passed 229/177.
H.R. 1039 amends the federal criminal code to authorize a probation officer to arrest a person, without warrant, if there is probable cause to believe that person forcibly assaulted or obstructed a probation officer while performing their official duties. The bill also would direct the ...
Yea H.R. 1695: Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act of 2017
Apr 26, 2017. Passed 378/48.
This bill would change the appointment process for the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, known as the Register of Copyrights. Currently the Register of Copyrights is hired by the Librarian of Congress (who is the head of the Library of Congress). This bill would ...
Aye H.J.Res. 43: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating ...
Feb 16, 2017. Passed 230/188.
Joe Biden never got the opportunity to break a single 50-50 Senate tie in eight years as vice president. Mike Pence has already broken two. One from last month has since become law: a measure allowing states to withhold federal Planned Parenthood funding. (The other ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2017 to Dec 2018, Garrett missed 131 of 1,210 roll call votes, which is 10.8%. This is much worse than the median of 2.5% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2018. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

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Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:

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