Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s 2014 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Connecticut
Democrat
Serving Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2029
These statistics cover Blumenthal’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th Congress.
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 Blumenthal’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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Introduced the most bills compared to Senate SophomoresBlumenthal introduced 63 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Democrats (75th percentile); All Senators (85th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to Senate SophomoresOf the 398 bills that Blumenthal cosponsored, 16% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (23rd percentile); All Senators (12th 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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Ranked most politically left compared to Senate SophomoresOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Blumenthal’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (9th percentile); All Senators (5th percentile). |
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Ranked the top leader compared to Senate SophomoresOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Blumenthal’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Democrats (75th percentile); All Senators (87th percentile). |
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Was most present in votes compared to Senate SophomoresBlumenthal missed 0.3% of votes (2 of 657 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Blumenthal’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); All Senators (7th percentile). |
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Held the most committee positions compared to Senate Sophomores (tied with 1 other)Blumenthal held a leadership position on 0 committees and 3 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Blumenthal’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (85th percentile); Senate Democrats (57th percentile); All Senators (51st percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the 2nd most often compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)GovTrack looked at whether Blumenthal supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Blumenthal 7 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Blumenthal sponsored S. 1467: FISA Court Reform Act of … Blumenthal cosponsored S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 405: Sunshine in the Courtroom Act …; S. 1130: Ending Secret Law Act; S. 1207: Cameras in the Courtroom Act Compare to all Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Democrats (94th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 3rd most bills compared to All SenatorsBlumenthal cosponsored 398 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 Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Democrats (94th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 10th lowest % of bills compared to Senate DemocratsBlumenthal tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 22% of Blumenthal’s 63 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (25th percentile); Senate Democrats (18th percentile); All Senators (28th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Got bicameral support on the 10th most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 615: Coltsville National Historical Park Act; S. 702: A bill to designate the …; S. 1019: Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention …; S. 1160: Complete America’s Great Trails Act; S. 1174: A bill to award a …; S. 1281: Veterans and Servicemembers Employment Rights …; S. 1624: VOW to Hire Heroes Extension …; S. 1651: Manufacturing Reinvestment Account Act of …; S. 1653: Food Labeling Modernization Act of …; S. 1696: Women’s Health Protection Act of …; S. 1721: FANS Act; S. 1761: Permanently Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure …; S. 2150: Independent Innovator and Repurposing Act; S. 2347: Multi-State Worker Tax Fairness Act …; S. 2738: Toxic Exposure Research Act of …; S. 2807: Death in Custody Reporting Act …; S.Res. 439: A resolution supporting the goals … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (85th percentile); Senate Democrats (81st percentile); All Senators (87th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Got the 14th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsBlumenthal’s bills and resolutions had 410 cosponsors in the 113th 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 Senate Sophomores (85th percentile); Senate Democrats (75th percentile); All Senators (86th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedBlumenthal introduced 2 bills that became law in the 113th 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: S. 1174: A bill to award a …; S. 2807: Death in Custody Reporting Act … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (62nd percentile); Senate Democrats (58th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Blumenthal introduced 0 bills in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors5 of Blumenthal’s bills and resolutions in the 113th 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: S. 666: Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act …; S. 1174: A bill to award a …; S. 2364: Sunshine in Litigation Act of …; S.Res. 183: A resolution commemorating the relaunching …; S.Res. 330: A resolution recognizing the 50th … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (54th percentile); Senate Democrats (47th percentile); All Senators (58th 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 113th Congress) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.