Woohoo! Back up and running! After several months with jacked up data base queries, broken Java code, crazy children (including a five-year old Lisa Simpson), the start of the Postseason, and a real job, I have finally found the time to get my cosponsor tracking back up and running – only half way through the 114th Congress – c’est la vie.

The last few weeks have been crazy on the Hill: Speaker resigning; Speaker-to-be withdrawing; Speaker-wanna-bes talking big game; Speakers-that-could-be not in the hunt.

It’s like the last two minutes of Bridge on the River Kwai:

Alec Guinness spots the primer cord and rats out the Allied commandos; Lt. Joyce stabs Col. Saito; the Japanese shoot Joyce;
William Holden rushes in only to be gunned down;
Jack Hawkins fires a mortar;
and mortally wounds Guinness who exclaims, “What have I done?”
Guinness falls on the detonator; the bridge blows; the train drops into the river.
James Donald utters the final words: “Madness! Madness!” Yeah, it’s a little like that.[1]
Images from The Bridge on the River Kwai; Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1957

Madness! Madness! Despite the madness there are some aggressive cosponsor getters out there a little less than half way through the 114th (the bill I get paid to work among them). Clearly there are at least a couple things that most members can agree on. In addition to trying to keep a running total I will also try on some new visualizations in the coming days. Here is the list for the House Top 25 as of October 10, 2015 [Click here to jump to the Senate list]:

The Senate Top 25 as of October 10, 2015

[1] Shockingly all of the clips on YouTube cut out the repetition of the phrase “Madness!” It’s the definitive non-whistling line of the movie. It’s like clipping Cleopatra and leaving out Roddy McDowell’s Oscar-winning monologue (jump to 5:00 in the linked clip). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bjBIJjglq8

The top 25 leader board in the House this week remained relatively stable with only one new bill re-joining the list: H.R. 986, Rep. Richard Hudson’s (R-NC) Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, with 113 Republican and 1 Democratic cosponsors. This bill had previously been on the list, dropped off, and H.R. 986 rejoins the list at #25, displacing the previous #25, Rep. Bradley Byrne’s H.R. 596 a bill to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and health care-related provisions in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Continue reading Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 20 March 2015 →

Two one new bill makes the top 25 this week in the Senate: S. 301, Sen. Fischer’s (R-NE) Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Act enters the list at #5 with 66 cosponsors. This knocks Sen. Cornyn’s (R-TX) S. 141, Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act of 2015 off the list. Continue reading Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 20 March 2015 →

This week the House came in to pro forma session on March 10 and again on March 13. Staff for lead sponsors who are quick on the draw can add cosponsors to a bill even though very few, if any, Representatives are in town. On March 10 the House was in pro forma session for 2 minutes and 13 seconds. Eleven bills with 62 original cosponsors were introduced, and a total of 156 cosponsors were added to 44 different bills. On March 13 the House was in pro forma session for 5 minutes and 55 seconds. Thirteen bills with 44 original cosponsors were introduced, and a total of 158 cosponsors were added to 47 different bills.

So, why pro forma? Art. I, sec. 5, cl. 4 of the Constitution requires that, “Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.” The House was on a district work period this week with most Representatives working outside of Washington, while the Senate remained in session. This triggered the Constitutional requirement for a pro forma session of the House on Tuesday the 10th and again on Friday the 13th.

Continue reading Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 14 March 2015 →

No new Senate bills joined or dropped out of the top 25 in the past week.

Continue reading Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 14 March 2015 →

There were no changes to the overall composition of the Senate leader board over the past week. In the House leader summary I noted that eight of the top 25 House bills are sponsored by Democrats. In the Senate, six of the top 25 are sponsored by Democrats. Only one of those bills, Sen. Menendez’s (D-NJ) S.Res. 87 (114th Cong.) had any Republican cosponsors.

The other five Democratic authored bills have zero Republican cosponsors between them (all five are cosponsored by both Independent Senators). Of course, this is replicated on the other side of the aisle with nine Republican authored bills in the top 25 also lacking any Democratic cosponsors (neither Independent cosponsored either). This is not surprising at this early stage of the Congress, and the top 25 is unlikely to maintain these partisan splits as the Congress progresses.

Continue reading Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 5 March 2015 →

Three new contenders joined the House cosponsorship leader board this week: HR 1190, HR 1260 and HR 1286. These bills displaced HR 317 (previously #23), HR 986 (prev. #24), and HRes 117 (prev. #25) from the top 25.

Interestingly, three of the top five are sponsored by Democrats: HR 431 (#1), HR 861 (#4), and HR 1031 (#5). Five additional Democratic bills, for a total of 8 Democratic sponsored bills are in the top 25. At the end of the 113th Congress only four Democratic sponsored bills remained in the top 5. The most cosponsored of those bills was Rep. Sewell’s (D-AL) HR 360 (113th Cong.; #14T). As noted, Rep. Sewell’s HR 1031 (114th Cong.) is currently at #5.

Continue reading Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 5 March 2015 →