Rep. Trey Gowdy’s 2017 Report Card
Representative
from South Carolina's 4th District
Republican
Served Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2019
These year-end statistics cover Gowdy’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
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 Gowdy’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.
|
|
Got bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to South Carolina DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 0 of Gowdy’s 0 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Cosponsored the fewest bills compared to South Carolina DelegationGowdy cosponsored 59 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 South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (5th percentile); All Representatives (3rd percentile). |
|
|
Introduced the fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)Gowdy introduced 0 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Got the fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)Gowdy’s bills and resolutions had 0 cosponsors in 2017. 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 South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Got their bills out of committee the least often compared to South Carolina Delegation (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Gowdy introduced 0 bills in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Got bicameral support on the fewest bills compared to South Carolina Delegation (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Compare to all South Carolina 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. |
|
|
Laws EnactedGowdy introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all South Carolina 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. |
|
|
Powerful Cosponsors0 of Gowdy’s bills and resolutions in 2017 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. Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Committee PositionsGowdy held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Gowdy’s Profile » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (71st percentile); House Republicans (90th percentile); All Representatives (90th percentile). |
|
|
Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 59 bills that Gowdy cosponsored, 12% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (43rd percentile); House Republicans (50th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Missed VotesGowdy missed 1.4% of votes (10 of 710 votes) in 2017. View Gowdy’s Profile » Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (29th percentile); All Representatives (41st 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. |
|
|
Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Gowdy supported any of 21 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Gowdy 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Gowdy cosponsored H.R. 522: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act …; H.R. 732: Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act … Compare to all South Carolina Delegation (71st percentile); House Republicans (68th percentile); All Representatives (55th 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 2017) 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.
