Rep. Steve King

Former Representative for Iowa’s 4^th District

pronounced steev // king

King was the representative for Iowa’s 4^th congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 2013 to 2020.

He was previously the representative for Iowa’s 5^th congressional district as a Republican from 2003 to 2012.

OpenSecrets Bioguide C-SPAN

Photo of Rep. Steve King [R-IA4, 2013-2020]

Elections must be decided by counting votes

Our work to hold Congress accountable only matters if elections are decided by counting votes. President Trump, his advisors and associates, and Republican legislators collaborated to have the 2020 presidential election decided by themselves rather than by voters through their attempts to suppress state-certified election results at both the state and national level.

King was among the Republican legislators who participated in this. Shortly after the election, King joined a case before the Supreme Court calling for all the votes for president in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — states that were narrowly won by Democrats — to be discarded, in order to change the outcome of the election. In the case, Republicans proffered lies and a novel legal theory which the Supreme Court rejected. (Following the rejection of several related cases before the Supreme Court, another legislator who joined the case called for violence.)

In 2023, Trump associates and top advisors pleaded guilty to submitting a fraudulent slate of electors to Congress from Georgia, making false statements about purported widespread fraud in the election, and tampering with voting machines after the election, admitted in civil court to posing as fake electors in Wisconsin, and were convicted of contempt of Congress for withholding documents during its investigation and assaulting police officers at the Capitol. Trump associates and top advisors are also facing charges for submitting fraudulent slates of electors to Congress (in Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, and Wisconsin) and Trump himself faces criminal charges for coordinating the fraudulent slates of electors and other actions. He was also convicted in 2024 of falsifying business records to cover up acts that he believed might have hurt him in the 2016 election. The January 6, 2021 violent insurrection at the Capitol, led on the front lines by militant white supremacy groups one member of which was convicted of sedition, attempted to prevent President-elect Joe Biden from taking office by disrupting Congress’s count of electors.

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for King.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

King is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2020 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 King sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Dec 28, 2020. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

King was the primary sponsor of 1 bill that was enacted:

H.R. 2758 (108th): To redesignate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 101 South Vine Street in Glenwood, Iowa, as the “William J. Scherle Post Office Building”.

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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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

King sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Immigration (31%) Taxation (17%) Government Operations and Politics (12%) Crime and Law Enforcement (11%) Health (9%) Labor and Employment (8%) Agriculture and Food (6%) Law (6%)

Recently Introduced Bills

King recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

King voted Yea

H.Res. 445: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3055) making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, …

Passed 231/195 on Jun 19, 2019.

King voted Nay

H.Res. 694: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4712) to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit a …

Passed 228/189 on Jan 18, 2018.

King voted Nay

H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of …

King voted Nay

H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015

Passed 219/206 on Dec 11, 2014.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December …

King voted Aye

H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

King voted Nay

S. 1603 (113th): Gun Lake Trust Land Reaffirmation Act

Passed 359/64 on Sep 16, 2014.

King voted Nay

H.Res. 656 (112th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 4970) to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, …

Passed 235/186 on May 16, 2012.

King voted No

H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack …

King voted Nay

H.Con.Res. 135 (111th): Directing the Architect of the Capitol to place a marker in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor …

Passed 399/1 on Jul 7, 2009.

Missed Votes

From Jan 2003 to Dec 2020, King missed 355 of 12,265 roll call votes, which is 2.9%. This is on par with the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2020. 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...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
2003 Jan-Mar	94	1	1.1%	36^th
2003 Apr-Jun	239	9	3.8%	67^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	5	2.6%	68^th
2003 Oct-Dec	151	4	2.6%	37^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	6	5.8%	59^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	1	0.5%	20^th
2004 Jul-Sep	161	1	0.6%	16^th
2004 Oct-Dec	58	1	1.7%	41^st
2005 Jan-Mar	90	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	1	0.4%	14^th
2005 Jul-Sep	146	0	0.0%	0^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	3	1.8%	33^rd
2006 Jan-Mar	81	1	1.2%	38^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	1	0.4%	11^th
2006 Jul-Sep	159	1	0.6%	28^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	0	0.0%	0^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	1	0.5%	21^st
2007 Apr-Jun	393	3	0.8%	24^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	17	5.4%	86^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	6	2.3%	41^st
2008 Jan-Mar	149	3	2.0%	34^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	6	1.9%	36^th
2008 Jul-Sep	205	3	1.5%	34^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	0	0.0%	0^th
2009 Jan-Mar	174	4	2.3%	52^nd
2009 Apr-Jun	303	7	2.3%	54^th
2009 Jul-Sep	268	4	1.5%	43^rd
2009 Oct-Dec	246	8	3.3%	56^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	9	4.6%	64^th
2010 Apr-Jun	219	4	1.8%	34^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	2	1.3%	36^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	0	0.0%	0^th
2011 Jan-Mar	212	5	2.4%	72^nd
2011 Apr-Jun	281	12	4.3%	86^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	12	4.9%	82^nd
2011 Oct-Dec	208	7	3.4%	63^rd
2012 Jan-Mar	151	2	1.3%	43^rd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	4	1.3%	45^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	3	2.0%	56^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	3	5.9%	69^th
2013 Jan-Jan 112th Congress	5	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	1	1.1%	39^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	3	1.4%	41^st
2013 Jul-Sep	200	11	5.5%	83^rd
2013 Oct-Dec	137	3	2.2%	55^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	3	2.0%	51^st
2014 Apr-Jun	219	5	2.3%	59^th
2014 Jul-Sep	147	13	8.8%	93^rd
2014 Nov-Dec	49	1	2.0%	56^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	8	5.6%	81^st
2015 Apr-Jun	244	2	0.8%	40^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	0	0.0%	0^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	5	2.8%	75^th
2016 Jan-Mar	137	39	28.5%	97^th
2016 Apr-Jun	204	1	0.5%	19^th
2016 Jul-Sep	232	0	0.0%	0^th
2016 Nov-Dec	48	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	7	3.4%	74^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	0	0.0%	0^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	0	0.0%	0^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	2	1.6%	38^th
2018 Apr-Jun	184	3	1.6%	36^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	6	5.9%	84^th
2018 Nov-Dec	85	1	1.2%	33^rd
2019 Jan-Mar	136	6	4.4%	79^th
2019 Apr-Jun	294	9	3.1%	74^th
2019 Jul-Sep	125	0	0.0%	0^th
2019 Oct-Dec	146	2	1.4%	49^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	2	2.0%	46^th
2020 Apr-Jun	31	18	58.1%	98^th
2020 Jul-Sep	80	16	20.0%	95^th
2020 Oct-Dec	40	28	70.0%	98^th

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

Rep. Steve King

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Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recently Introduced Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

King voted Yea

King voted Nay

King voted Nay

King voted Nay

King voted Aye

King voted Nay

King voted Nay

King voted No

King voted Nay

Missed Votes

Primary Sources