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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2019 | National | HR 5 | Equality Act | Bill Passed - House (236 - 173) |
| May 16, 2019 | National | PN 526 | Nomination of Jeffrey Rosen to be Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice | (52 - 45) |
| March 26, 2019 | National | H J Res 46 | Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019 | Veto Override Failed - House (248 - 181) |
| March 14, 2019 | National | H J Res 46 | Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019 | Bill Passed - Senate (59 - 41) |
| March 14, 2019 | National | H Con Res 24 | Expressing the sense of Congress that the report of Special Counsel Mueller should be made available to the public and to Congress. | Bill Passed - House (420 - 0) |
| March 14, 2019 | National | H Con Res 24 | Expressing the sense of Congress that the report of Special Counsel Mueller should be made available to the public and to Congress. | Bill Passed - House (420 - 0) |
| March 7, 2019 | National | H Res 183 | Condemning anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values and aspirations that define the people of the United States and condemning anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contrary to the values and aspirations of the United States | Bill Passed - House (407 - 23) |
| Feb. 28, 2019 | National | HR 1112 | Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 | Bill Passed - House (228 - 198) |
| Feb. 27, 2019 | National | HR 8 | Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 | Bill Passed - House (240 - 190) |
| Feb. 26, 2019 | National | H J Res 46 | Relating to a national emergency declared by the President on February 15, 2019 | Bill Passed - House (245 - 182) |
| Jan. 15, 2019 | National | H Res 41 | Rejecting White Nationalism and White Supremacy | Bill Passed - House (424 - 1) |
| Dec. 20, 2018 | National | S 756 | First Step Act of 2018 | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (358 - 36) |
| Dec. 18, 2018 | National | S 756 | First Step Act of 2018 | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (87 - 12) |
| Sept. 17, 2018 | National | HR 6 | Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 | Bill Passed - Senate (99 - 1) |
| Sept. 7, 2018 | National | HR 6691 | Community Safety and Security Act of 2018 | Bill Passed - House (247 - 152) |
| Aug. 1, 2018 | National | HR 5515 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (87 - 10) |
| July 26, 2018 | National | HR 5515 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 | Conference Report Adopted - House (359 - 54) |
| June 22, 2018 | National | HR 6 | Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 | Bill Passed - House (396 - 14) |
| June 18, 2018 | National | HR 5515 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 | Bill Passed - Senate (85 - 10) |
| June 15, 2018 | National | HR 2851 | SITSA Act | Bill Passed - House (239 - 142) |
| June 14, 2018 | National | HR 5735 | THRIVE Act | Bill Passed - House (230 - 173) |
| May 24, 2018 | National | HR 5515 | National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 | Bill Passed - House (351 - 66) |
| May 22, 2018 | National | S 204 | Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017 | Bill Passed - House (250 - 169) |
| May 22, 2018 | National | HR 5682 | FIRST STEP Act | Bill Passed - House (360 - 59) |
| May 16, 2018 | National | HR 5698 | Protect and Serve Act of 2018 | Bill Passed - House (382 - 35) |