Sen. Thomas Carper’s 2022 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Delaware
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2001 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Carper’s record during the 117th Congress (Jan 3, 2021-Jan 3, 2023) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Feb 12, 2023.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Carper’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Introduced the 3rd fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 1 other)Carper introduced 31 bills and resolutions in the 117th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (4th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); All Senators (20th percentile). |
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Was 4th most present in votes compared to All Senators (tied with 2 others)Carper missed 0.3% of votes (3 of 949 votes) in the 117th Congress. View Carper’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (5th percentile); All Senators (3rd percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 5th fewest bills compared to Senate DemocratsCarper cosponsored 257 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); All Senators (20th percentile). |
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Ranked the 6th bottom/follower compared to Senate DemocratsOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 117th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Carper’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); All Senators (25th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 6th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act; S. 596: Treat and Reduce Obesity Act …; S. 1116: Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of …; S. 1202: Reconnecting Communities Act; S. 1798: TIKES Act; S. 3104: Flood Prevention Act of 2021; S. 3624: Shoreline Health Oversight, Restoration, Resilience, …; S. 3767: Delaware River Basin Conservation Reauthorization …; S. 3792: Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act; S. 4194: Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act …; S. 5011: KIDS Health Act of 2022; S.Res. 586: A resolution expressing support for … Compare to all Senate Democrats (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (31st percentile); All Senators (31st percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Got the 8th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)Carper’s bills and resolutions had 164 cosponsors in the 117th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (11th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 9th most often compared to Senate DemocratsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 257 bills that Carper cosponsored, 30% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (61st percentile); All Senators (61st percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Got their bills out of committee the 9th least often compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Carper introduced 9 bills in the 117th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 1116: Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of …; S. 1202: Reconnecting Communities Act; S. 1931: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of …; S. 1953: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of …; S. 3122: Further Surface Transportation Extension Act …; S. 3650: PLUM Act of 2022; S. 3743: Recycling and Composting Accountability Act; S. 4136: Water Resources Development Act of …; S.Res. 49: An original resolution authorizing expenditures … Compare to all Senate Democrats (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (34th percentile); All Senators (37th percentile). |
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Ranked 10th most politically right compared to Senate DemocratsOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 117th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Carper’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (79th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); All Senators (38th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 9th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 4 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 19 of Carper’s 31 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Carper caucused with in the 117th Congress. Compare to all Senate Democrats (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); All Senators (42nd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Laws EnactedCarper introduced 5 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 117th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: S. 1116: Federal Firefighters Fairness Act of …; S. 1931: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of …; S. 1953: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of …; S. 3122: Further Surface Transportation Extension Act …; S. 3650: PLUM Act of 2022 Compare to all Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (52nd percentile); All Senators (55th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Powerful Cosponsors6 of Carper’s bills and resolutions in the 117th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: S. 51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act; S. 1953: Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of …; S. 3122: Further Surface Transportation Extension Act …; S. 3743: Recycling and Composting Accountability Act; S. 4137: Water Resources Development Act of …; S. 4194: Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act … Compare to all Senate Democrats (26th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (43rd percentile); All Senators (48th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsCarper held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Carper’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (60th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (48th percentile); All Senators (65th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of the 117th Congress) was the 117th Congress (freshmen) or 116th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
