Rep. James “Jim” McGovern
Representative for Massachusetts’s 2nd District
pronounced jaymz // muh-GUV-ern
McGovern is the representative for Massachusetts’s 2nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. McGovern is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 64 years old.
He was previously the representative for Massachusetts’s 3rd congressional district as a Democrat from 1997 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. James “Jim” McGovern [D-MA2]](/https/www.govtrack.us/static/legislator-photos/400263-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
McGovern proposed $40 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $5 million to Worcester Community Housing Resources, Inc. for “Oriol Drive Permanent Supportive Housing”
- $5 million to MetroWest YMCA for “MetroWest YMCA Regional Early Learning Center”
- $5 million to Town of Bernardston, Massachusetts for “Bernardston Fire Station”
View all requests and justifications on McGovern’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
McGovern is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills McGovern has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Aug 20, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
James “Jim” McGovern sits on the following committees:
-
House Committee on Rules
Ranking Member
Rules and Organization of the House subcommittees
-
House Committee on Agriculture
Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture subcommittees
Enacted Legislation
McGovern was the primary sponsor of 15 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 533: Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act
- H.R. 6256 (117th): To ensure that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States market, …
- H.R. 6251 (117th): Food Donation Improvement Act of 2021
- H.R. 2495 (117th): For the relief of Irida Kakhtiranova.
- H.R. 4331 (116th): Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019
- H.R. 1872 (115th): Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018
- H.R. 3105 (115th): Supporting Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Act
Does 15 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
McGovern sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (38%) Health (22%) Agriculture and Food (14%) Private Legislation (6%) Transportation and Public Works (6%) Housing and Community Development (5%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
McGovern recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 1072: Recognizing the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising Day of March 10, 1959, …
- H.Res. 1016: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 5673) to advance responsible policies.
- H.R. 7175: Human Rights Defenders Protection Act of 2024
- H.R. 6892: Medical Nutrition Equity Act of 2023
- H.R. 6780: Medically Tailored Home-Delivered Meals Demonstration Pilot Act
- H.R. 5673: Responsible Legislating Act
- H.R. 5216: Connecticut River Watershed Partnership Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to Jul 2024, McGovern missed 250 of 17,784 roll call votes, which is 1.4%. This is better than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
