While some colleagues engaged in high-profile battles over the speaker of the House, presidential politicking and seemingly unending partisan bickering, highly effective members of the 118th Congress worked together to pass legislation, according to a report from the Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint effort of the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University.
“Although the 118th Congress started off slowly in terms of lawmaking, and it was disrupted by unprecedented speaker battles in the House, in the end, hundreds of bills found their way into law, with hundreds more embedded within larger legislative packages,” the report’s conclusion states.
However, the report notes several traditionally highly effective legislators are leaving Congress, which could impact the legislative body’s performance going forward.
Alan Wiseman is a political science professor at Vanderbilt University and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. (Contributed photo)
For its analysis, the center uses a combination of 15 metrics showing how far a lawmaker’s sponsored bills advance in the legislative process, including whether they ultimately become law or are included in other laws. Center personnel also weigh the relative significance of each bill. Symbolic bills, such as naming a post office, are weighted less than those dealing with budgets or other issues. Its reports use data going back to 1973.
In the last 10 years, the center has compiled five Congressional reports, looking at the two-year term of each Congress. The center also reviews the effectiveness of the Virginia legislature and those of other states.
Craig Volden, a professor of public policy and politics at the Batten School, and Alan Wiseman, a political science professor at Vanderbilt, led the center’s review of the most recent Congress, which convened Jan. 3, 2023, and ended Jan. 3, 2025.
The report, released last week during a webinar, identifies the most effective lawmakers in both parties whose bills passed into law “despite deep political and procedural disruptions” and “widespread public perception of gridlock in the nation’s capital.”
“Our analysis dating back to the 1970s demonstrates that in Congress after Congress, despite there being a relatively contentious environment at times, it is still the case that quite a bit of lawmaking occurs,” Wiseman said during the webinar.
“Around 2023, there were just a handful of bills that became law in Congress and people were pointing to the dysfunction there,” Volden said, noting the Republican fight over who would serve as speaker of the House disrupted the legislative process.
Craig Volden is a professor of public policy and politics at UVA’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and co-director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking. (Contributed photo)
“Then 2024 rolled around. Republicans having a speaker for an entire year led to more than 200 bills becoming law as stand-alone packages, as well as another 200 embedded into larger packages, putting the 118th Congress nearly on par with the 117th,” Volden said.
The report shows the most effective legislators acted on “a broad array of policy issues, ranging from defense and international affairs to the environment, transportation, and government operations.”
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, was the most effective member of his party in the House of Representatives, while U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas led Democrats. In the Senate, Michigan’s U.S. Sen. Gary Peters led Democrats and Texas U.S. Sen. John Cornyn led Republicans in effectiveness ratings.
The report and the center’s website includes links that allow readers to research individual representatives from both parties, as well as full lists of the most effective lawmakers.
“We’re finding that (effective lawmakers) are all over the map and that those with conservative ideas, liberal ideas and those who are more moderate all can find a path to successful lawmaking,” Volden said.
The report notes some on the lists of high performers have left or are planning to leave their legislative roles, which could impact the relative effectiveness of the institutions moving forward. Among them are Cornyn; Peters, who will retire at the end of his term; and former U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, now serving as secretary of state.
“We see retirements that correspond to the most highly effective lawmakers, and what this implies is the extent to which institutional memory, sense of process knowledge, or more generally long-term relationships that have been established also leave with these members,” Wiseman said.
