According to a July Gallup poll, public approval of Congress has fallen to near-record lows. On average, 34% of the population approves of a given Congress. The current 114th Congress has a 17% approval rating.
Americans have reason to be concerned. According to GovTrack.us, the last two Congresses have enacted fewer laws than any other Congress since 1947. And the 114th Congress may just surpass them all in terms of doing nothing.
House Speaker John Boehner has argued that “We ought to be judged on how many laws we repeal”—not by the laws they pass. Even by that metric, Boehner’s Congress is still underperforming as a law must be passed to repeal another one.
While Congress has been inefficient across the board, some members have been exceptionally unexceptional. Using data from GovTrack, InsideGov created an Effectiveness Score to determine the least-effective members of Congress.
The effectiveness score shows the percentage of bills that each congressperson sponsored during their time in office that passed committee. This score does not consider the percentage of bills that became law, as a very small number of proposed bills and resolutions actually turn into laws.
While it’s true that some congresspeople intentionally make an effort to stymie fast-tracked legislation, the members on this list are sponsoring their own legislation and not getting it passed through committee.
This list only includes members of Congress who have served at least one full term and does not include bills introduced in the 114th Congress, since they still have time to get passed.
These are the 35 least-effective members of Congress. See if your representatives make the list:
#35. Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr
Effectiveness Score: 2%
Total Sponsored Bills: 420
Bills Passed Committee: 9
Serving Since: 2007
#34. Rep. Richard E. Neal
Effectiveness Score: 2%
Total Sponsored Bills: 160
Bills Passed Committee: 3
Serving Since: 1989
#33. Rep. Matt Cartwright
Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 76
Bills Passed Committee: 1
Serving Since: 2013
#32. Rep. Keith Ellison
Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 134
Bills Passed Committee: 2
Serving Since: 2007
#31. Rep. Michael M. Honda
Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 135
Bills Passed Committee: 1
Serving Since: 2001
#30. Rep. Steve Israel
Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 231
Bills Passed Committee: 2
Serving Since: 2001
#29. Rep. Randy K. Weber Sr.
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 10
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#28. Rep. Joaquin Castro
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 11
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#27. Rep. Tammy Duckworth
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 12
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#26. Rep. Marc A. Veasey
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 8
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#25. Rep. Julia Brownley
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 28
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#24. Rep. Tony Cardenas
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 24
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#23. Rep. Mark Pocan
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 20
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#22. Rep. Ami Bera
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 8
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#21. Rep. Patrick Murphy
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 29
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#20. Rep. Keith J. Rothfus
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 12
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#19. Rep. Robin L. Kelly
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 23
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#18. Rep. Alan S. Lowenthal
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 10
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#17. Rep. Cheri Bustos
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 19
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#16. Rep. Angus S. King Jr.
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 23
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#15. Rep. Daniel T. Kildee
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 11
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#14. Rep. Lois Frankel
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 8
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#13. Rep. Mark Takano
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 25
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013
#12. Rep. Thomas Massie
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 12
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2012
#11. Rep. Justin Amash
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 13
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011
#10. Rep. Richard B. Nugent
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 23
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011
#9. Rep. Austin Scott
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 17
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011
#8. Rep. Daniel Webster
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 6
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011
#7. Rep. Judy Chu
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 28
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2009
#6. Rep. John Garamendi
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 27
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2009
#5. Rep. Leonard Lance
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 25
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2009
#4. Rep. Andre Carson
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 50
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2008
#3. Rep. Donna F. Edwards
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 35
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2008
#2. Rep. Jim Jordan
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 24
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2007
#1. Rep. Steve King
Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 94
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2003
Least Effective Members of Congress
The visualization below shows the 35 least-effective members of Congress. You can filter by state to see if you’re representatives made the list:
Steve King holds the dubious honor as the least effective person in Congress. The Iowa representative has served in Congress for 12 years and has yet to sponsor a single bill that passed committee, let alone become an actual law.
Massachusetts representative Richard E. Neal is the most tenured member on this list. He’s served in Congress for a remarkable 26 years, but has only had three bills pass a committee and two become laws.
Interestingly, the 20 least effective members on this list are almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. It seems both parties are equally capable of being ineffective.