All posts by Adam Nordstrom

Attorney, lobbyist, small business owner, entertainer, database djinni of mass destruction... I like political trivia, diagramming Koine sentences, teaching geometry to my daughters, and having my creative writing projects enacted into the United States Code. More: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/adam-nordstrom

Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 1 March 2015

Continue reading Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 1 March 2015

Rank Bill Cosponsors Author Title Status
1 HR 431 Total: 303
115 R 188 D
0 I
Terri A. Sewell (D-AL) To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody S… Passed House
2 HR 160 Total: 275
240 R 35 D
0 I
Erik Paulsen (R-MN) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on medical device… Introduced
3 HR 699 Total: 246
156 R 90 D
0 I
Kevin Yoder (R-KS) To amend title 18, United States Code, to update the privacy protections for electron… Introduced
4 HR 861 Total: 192
0 R 192 D
0 I
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 Introduced
5 HR 1031 Total: 185
0 R 185 D
0 I
Maxine Waters (D-CA) To reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and for other purposes. Introduced

Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 1 March 2015

Continue reading Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 1 March 2015

Rank Bill Cosponsors Author Title Status
1 SRES 19 Total: 99
53 R 44 D
2 I
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) A resolution relative to the death of Edward W. Brooke, III, former United States Sen… Passed Senate
1 SRES 38 Total: 99
53 R 44 D
2 I
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) A resolution relative to the death of Wendell H. Ford, former United States Senator f… Passed Senate
1 SRES 82 Total: 99
53 R 44 D
2 I
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) A resolution commending Kathleen Alvarez Tritak on her service to the United States S… Passed Senate
4 S 527 Total: 74
34 R 39 D
1 I
Jeff Sessions (R-AL) A bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in B… Passed Senate
5 S 1 Total: 59
53 R 6 D
0 I
John Hoeven (R-ND) Keystone XL Pipeline Approval Act Vetoed by President

Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 13 Feb 2015

Note added 2015_03_01: While updating the Senate cosponsorship leader board through the end of February, it became apparent to me that an error on congress.gov was replicated in my data for S.J.Res. 8, . . . providing for congressional disapproval . . . of the rule submitted by the National Labor Relations Board relating to representation case procedures. It appears that congress.gov entered each original cosponsor twice, and each subsequent cosponsor once. This made it appear as though the bill had 95 cosponsors, all of the Republican, which clearly cannot be, and I should have caught that. The error was flagged to LOC by web comment form on 2015_03_01. It is corrected for purposes of http://218and51.com on the cosponsor leader board posted on March 1, but is not corrected below. — Adam

Continue reading Most cosponsored Senate bills in 114th Congress as of 13 Feb 2015

Rank Bill Cosponsors Author Title Status
1 SRES 19 Total: 99
53 R 44 D
2 I
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) A resolution relative to the death of Edward W. Brooke, III, former United States Sen… Passed Senate
1 SRES 38 Total: 99
53 R 44 D
2 I
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) A resolution relative to the death of Wendell H. Ford, former United States Senator f… Passed Senate
1 SRES 82 Total: 99
53 R 44 D
2 I
Mitch McConnell (R-KY) A resolution commending Kathleen Alvarez Tritak on her service to the United States S… Passed Senate
4 SJRES 8 Total: 94
94 R 0 D
0 I
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5… Introduced

Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 13 Feb 2015

Continue reading Most cosponsored House bills in 114th Congress as of 13 Feb 2015

Rank Bill Cosponsors Author Title Status
1 HR 431 Total: 303
115 R 188 D
0 I
Terri A. Sewell (D-AL) To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody S… Passed House
2 HR 160 Total: 273
240 R 33 D
0 I
Erik Paulsen (R-MN) To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on medical device… Introduced
3 HR 699 Total: 240
154 R 86 D
0 I
Kevin Yoder (R-KS) To amend title 18, United States Code, to update the privacy protections for electron… Introduced
4 HR 36 Total: 183
180 R 3 D
0 I
Trent Franks (R-AZ) To amend title 18, United States Code, to protect pain-capable unborn children, and f… Introduced
5 HR 861 Total: 175
0 R 175 D
0 I
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 Introduced

113th Congress House Cosponsor Wrap-up

With the 113th Congress in the books, it is time to take a look at the final co-sponsorship standings. I was once told that “the number of cosponsors a bill collects is not important.” The stats this year contradict that assertion. Eighteen of the top twenty-five most cosponsored bills passed the House. At least one bill listed as merely “Introduced” – H.R. 721 (No. 25; and lobbied by yours truly) was enacted in part in H.R. 5771, the tax extenders bill. The same is true for H.R. 647. Counting those two bills, twelve of the top twenty-five most-cosponsored bills became law in the 113th Congress.

Stay tuned for the 114th Congress. 218and51.com will continue posting and expand coverage into votes and Senate cosponsorships.
Continue reading 113th Congress House Cosponsor Wrap-up

Most cosponsored House bills through 12 December 2014

As the Congress winds down, and 17 of the top 25 most-cosponsored bills in the House have either passed the House or passed Congress, the leader board is pretty much set for the 113th Congress. The most notable change is Rep. Whitfield’s H.R. 1518, which broke into a two-way tie for 10th place with Re. Paulsen’s H.R. 627 which has already passed the House.

Congratulations to Rep. Crenshaw for the House passage of H.R. 647 – the ABLE Act. This bill had been the most-cosponsored bill in the House, and has seen action in the closing days of this Congress.
Continue reading Most cosponsored House bills through 12 December 2014

Most Cosponsored House Bills through 21 November 2014


With Veterans Day falling on Tuesday last week there were only three days during which cosponsors were added to bills. Between 12 November and 14 November there were 628 cosponsors added to 247 different bills. The biggest cosponsor getter was Rep. David Joyce’s (R-OH) H.Res. 755, supporting the goals and ideals of American Education Week, not be confused with H.R. 755, a top 25 list member.

The biggest increase of cosponsors for a House Bill was for H.R. 4960, Rep. Todd Young’s (R-IN) Charitable Automobile Red-Tape Simplification Act of 2014 or the CARS Act of 2014. H.R. 4960 gained 20 cosponsors putting it behind H.Res. 755, H.Res. 728, and H.Res. 281 in terms of cosponsors added last week, but pushing it over a majority of the House in terms of co-sponsorship. With a total of 230 cosponsors, H.R. 4960 is 21 cosponsors out of 25th place for the Congress.
Continue reading Most Cosponsored House Bills through 21 November 2014

Most Cosponsored House Bills as of 14 November 2014

H.R. 1563 Cosponsor timeline showing large bump in cosponsorships after the election recess.
H.R. 1563 Cosponsor timeline showing large bump in cosponsorships after the election recess.
Congress is back in session and cosponsors are being added to bills again for the first time since September. Through Friday, 14 November, there was no change in the membership of the top 25 most-cosponsored bills in the US House, but there was some minor reshuffling of the order within the top 25. H.R. 2366 jumped into a four-way tie for 13th place with 301 cosponsors by merely adding one cosponsor. H.R. 1563 jumped three spots from 25th to 22nd by adding 20 new cosponsors. This prompted H.Res. 434, H.R. 543, and H.R. 721 to all fall one spot.

Last week there were 166 new bills introduced in the House. There were 1,357 new non-original cosponsors added to 446 different bills in the House. H.Res. 620 and H.R. 5403 tied for the largest number of House cosponsors added last week with 43 each – eight cosponsors more than the next highest recipient, H.R. 5441 with 35.
Click here for the top 25 bills list, along with links to graphs and maps for each bill

US House Cosponsorship Data Shows Increasing Polarization

The Caning of Sen. Sumner
Lithograph of Preston Brooks’ 1856 attack on Sumner. Source: wikipedia
Previously, I posted a list of those Representatives in each party that were least likely to cosponsor bills authored by a member of an opposing party. This led me to ask: Has the level of bipartisan cooperation changed over time as demonstrated by Representatives partnering with members of the opposing party to promote specific legislation?

The data arguably supports the popular belief that Congress has become more polarized since the 1980s.

I generally scoff at those who would say that we are more polarized as a nation now that at any time in our history. I think that ignores the troubled first century of our nation’s existence. Unlike the antebellum years, Representatives do not go armed to the Floor in fear of violence from their colleagues, and no one has been caned on the Floor in living memory. Click here to see more charts and data…

Which Representatives support the fewest bills from the other party? How did they fare in 2014?

What can legislative cosponsorship data show us about the willingness of members to work across the aisle in Congress? How bipartisan are various Representatives?

Rep. Huelskamp (R-KS): Least likely R to support a D bill.
Rep. Huelskamp (R-KS): Least likely R to support a D bill.
Looking at the cosponsorship data to date in the 113th Congress, those Representatives least likely to cosponsor bills authored by Democrats also tend to be names prominently associated with Tea Party or conservative politics. Likewise, some Democrats from more conservative, rural, or Republican-leaning districts co-sponsor more Republican bills than Democratic bills.

Democrats that supported Republican bills did not fare very well in the 2014 elections. Three of the 10 members with the most Republican bills were defeated and an additional three retired. Republicans that stuck to Republican bills were handily reelected, as were Democrats that stuck to Democratic bills. Those Republicans with the highest percentage of Democratic bills also fared well.
Continue reading. A table detailing the 20 most and least bipartisan cosponsors follows in the full post…