These Are the Least-Effective Members of Congress

Posted on August 6, 2015

by Alex Greer

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 is the percentage of bills sponsored by each congressperson over their time in office that went on to pass committee. The score does not factor in the percentage of bills that turned into law because such a small number of proposed bills and resolutions actually become laws.

While it’s true that some congress people 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:

Start the List 

Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr #35

Effectiveness Score: 2%
Total Sponsored Bills: 420
Bills Passed Committee: 9
Serving Since: 2007

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Rep. Richard E. Neal #34

Effectiveness Score: 2%
Total Sponsored Bills: 160
Bills Passed Committee: 3
Serving Since: 1989

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Rep. Matt Cartwright #33

Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 76
Bills Passed Committee: 1
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Keith Ellison #32

Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 134
Bills Passed Committee: 2
Serving Since: 2007

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Rep. Michael M. Honda #31

Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 135
Bills Passed Committee: 1
Serving Since: 2001

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Rep. Steve Israel #30

Effectiveness Score: 1%
Total Sponsored Bills: 231
Bills Passed Committee: 2
Serving Since: 2001

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Rep. Randy K. Weber Sr. #29

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 10
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Joaquin Castro #28

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 11
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Tammy Duckworth #27

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 12
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Marc A. Veasey #26

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 8
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Julia Brownley #25

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 28
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Tony Cardenas #24

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 24
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Mark Pocan #23

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 20
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Ami Bera #22

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 8
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Patrick Murphy #21

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 29
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Keith J. Rothfus #20

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 12
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Robin L. Kelly #19

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 23
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Alan S. Lowenthal #18

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 10
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Cheri Bustos #17

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 19
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Sen. Angus S. King Jr. #16

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 23
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

Editor’s note: This page originally stated the wrong prefix (“Rep.” instead of “Sen.”). Corrected 9/10/2015.

Next 

Rep. Daniel T. Kildee #15

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 11
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Lois Frankel #14

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 8
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Mark Takano #13

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 25
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2013

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Rep. Thomas Massie #12

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 12
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2012

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Rep. Justin Amash #11

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 13
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011

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Rep. Richard B. Nugent #10

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 23
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011

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Rep. Austin Scott #9

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 17
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011

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Rep. Daniel Webster #8

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 6
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2011

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Rep. Judy Chu #7

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 28
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2009

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Rep. John Garamendi #6

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 27
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2009

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Rep. Leonard Lance #5

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 25
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2009

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Rep. Andre Carson #4

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 50
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2008

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Rep. Donna F. Edwards #3

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 35
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2008

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Rep. Jim Jordan #2

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 24
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2007

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Rep. Steve King #1

Effectiveness Score: 0%
Total Sponsored Bills: 94
Bills Passed Committee: 0
Serving Since: 2003

Next 

Least Effective Members of Congress

The visualization below shows the 35 least effective members of Congress. You can filter by state to see if your 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.

Compare Members of Congress on InsideGov.

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