Sen. Rand Paul
Senator for Kentucky
pronounced rand // pawl
Paul is the junior senator from Kentucky and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 5, 2011. Paul is next up for reelection in 2028 and serves until Jan 3, 2029. He is 61 years old.
![Photo of Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY]](/https/www.govtrack.us/static/legislator-photos/412492-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Paul 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 Paul has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Aug 1, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Rand Paul sits on the following committees:
- Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Ranking Member
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Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Africa and Global Health Policy, Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, Multilateral International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy, State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development subcommittees
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Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Children and Families, Primary Health and Retirement Security subcommittees
- Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Enacted Legislation
Paul was the primary sponsor of 1 bill that was enacted:
Does 1 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
Paul sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
International Affairs (25%) Health (21%) Government Operations and Politics (17%) Taxation (12%) Economics and Public Finance (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (5%) Immigration (5%) Education (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Paul recently introduced the following legislation:
- S.J.Res. 105: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale …
- S. 4859: A bill to prohibit Federal employees and contractors from directing online platforms to …
- S. 4667: Risky Research Review Act
- S. 4373: REPUBLIC Act
- S.J.Res. 82: A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, …
- S. 4290: Antitrust Freedom Act of 2024
- S. 4291: Local News and Broadcast Media Preservation Act of 2024
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2011 to Aug 2024, Paul missed 240 of 4,483 roll call votes, which is 5.4%. This is much worse than the median of 3.0% 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.
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