Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:
Vote Smart provides a summary of the version of the bill text associated with each selected key vote. Our summaries are written by Vote Smart's staff and interns, who adhere to our strict policies and procedures in order to guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. They do not necessarily reflect the content of the final version of the bill, but rather the version voted on in that stage. While many procedural votes take place before a full chamber vote, our voting stages reflect the final reading of each chamber vote. Each key vote selection is reviewed by the project's community of advisors, who are political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.
For more information about the legislative process, see here.
| Date | State | Bill No. | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 13, 2013 | National | S Amdt 30 | To Prohibit the Use of Funds to Carry Out the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act | Amendment Rejected - Senate (45 - 52) |
| March 13, 2013 | National | HR 890 | Preserving Work Requirements for Welfare Programs Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - House (246 - 181) |
| March 7, 2013 | National | PN 48 | Nomination of John Brennan to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency | Nomination Confirmed - Senate (63 - 34) |
| March 6, 2013 | National | HR 933 | Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013 | Bill Passed - House (267 - 151) |
| Feb. 28, 2013 | National | S 47 | Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - House (286 - 138) |
| Feb. 28, 2013 | National | H Amdt 23 | Reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act | Amendment Rejected - House (166 - 257) |
| Feb. 26, 2013 | National | PN 34 | Nomination of Charles Timothy Hagel to be Secretary of Defense | Nomination Confirmed - Senate (58 - 41) |
| Feb. 26, 2013 | National | PN 34 | Nomination of Charles Timothy Hagel to be Secretary of Defense | Cloture Invoked - Senate (71 - 27) |
| Feb. 15, 2013 | National | HR 273 | Eliminates the 2013 Statutory Pay Adjustment for Federal Employees | Bill Passed - House (261 - 154) |
| Feb. 14, 2013 | National | PN 34 | Nomination of Charles Timothy Hagel to be Secretary of Defense | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (58 - 40) |
| Feb. 12, 2013 | National | S 47 | Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - Senate (78 - 22) |
| Jan. 31, 2013 | National | HR 325 | No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - Senate (64 - 34) |
| Jan. 28, 2013 | National | HR 152 | Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 | Bill Passed - Senate (62 - 36) |
| Jan. 23, 2013 | National | HR 325 | No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - House (285 - 144) |
| Jan. 15, 2013 | National | H Amdt 4 | Offsets Cost of Disaster Relief Appropriations Through Discretionary Budget Cuts | Amendment Rejected - House (162 - 258) |
| Jan. 15, 2013 | National | HR 152 | Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 | Bill Passed - House (241 - 180) |
| Jan. 1, 2013 | National | HR 8 | Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012 | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (257 - 167) |
| Jan. 1, 2013 | National | HR 8 | Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012 | Bill Passed - Senate (89 - 8) |
| Jan. 1, 2013 | National | HR 6726 | Congressional Pay Freeze and Fiscal Responsibility Act | Bill Passed - House (287 - 129) |
| Dec. 28, 2012 | National | HR 5949 | FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 | Bill Passed - Senate (73 - 23) |
| Dec. 21, 2012 | National | HR 4310 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (81 - 14) |
| Dec. 20, 2012 | National | HR 4310 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 | Conference Report Adopted - House (315 - 107) |
| Dec. 20, 2012 | National | HR 6684 | Spending Reduction Act of 2012 | Bill Passed - House (215 - 209) |
| Dec. 4, 2012 | National | Treaty Doc. 112-7 | The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities | Treaty Ratification Failed - Senate (61 - 38) |
| Nov. 30, 2012 | National | HR 6429 | STEM Jobs Act of 2012 | Bill Passed - House (245 - 139) |