Sen. Jeff Merkley

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2022 Report Card for Merkley.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Merkley is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate 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 Merkley has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jul 11, 2024. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Jeff Merkley sits on the following committees:

• Senate Committee on Appropriations
  • Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies subcommittee Chair

  Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Energy and Water Development, Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies, State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs subcommittees
• Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
  • Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight subcommittee Chair

  Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety, Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittees
• Joint Committee on Printing
• Senate Committee on the Budget
• Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  Africa and Global Health Policy, East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues subcommittees
• Senate Committee on Rules and Administration

Enacted Legislation

Merkley was the primary sponsor of 22 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

• S. 138: Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act
• S. 2605: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024
• S. 910: A bill to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act, and for other purposes.
• S. 1286: A bill to amend the Siletz Reservation Act to address the hunting, fishing, trapping, and animal gathering activities of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and for other …
• S. 1466 (117th): Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2022
• S. 314 (117th): Klamath Tribe Judgment Fund Repeal Act
• S. 4686 (117th): Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023

View All »

Does 22 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Merkley sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (20%) Environmental Protection (19%) International Affairs (16%) Energy (13%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (12%) Finance and Financial Sector (8%) Government Operations and Politics (6%) Education (6%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Merkley recently introduced the following legislation:

• S.Res. 763: A resolution designating July 2024 as “Plastic Pollution Action Month”.
• S. 4714: A bill to prohibit the distribution of false AI-generated election media and to …
• S.Res. 747: A resolution recognizing the importance of pollinators to ecosystem health and agriculture in …
• S. 4517: A bill to authorize the establishment of a Negotiations Support Unit in the …
• S. 4407: A bill to effectively staff the high-need public elementary schools and secondary schools …
• S. 4393: Children’s Safe Welcome Act of 2024
• S.Res. 676: A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week, to be …

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Missed Votes

From Jan 2009 to Jul 2024, Merkley missed 94 of 5,162 roll call votes, which is 1.8%. This is better than the median of 2.9% among the lifetime records of senators 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.

Show the numbers...

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