New list rates the most bipartisan members of Congress — and the least

A newly released analysis from the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University ranks members of Congress on bipartisanship. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick were the most bipartisan members of Congress last year, according to a newly released analysis from the Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.

The least bipartisan House lawmaker was Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, while Alabama’s Katie Britt, a Republican freshman, placed last among the senators.

The latest ranking of the most bipartisan lawmakers comes amid one of the least productive Congresses in the nation’s history and just months before nearly all House lawmakers and about one-third of the Senate face voters at the polls in November.

Maria Cancian, dean of the McCourt School of Public Policy, wrote in a statement announcing the new rankings that “while there is much room for improvement, I am encouraged to see some progress on cross-party collaboration.”

“In these deeply divided times, and with an increasing amount of misleading information online, we need tools like the Bipartisan Index more than ever — an evidence-based and nonpartisan approach for measuring how well policymakers work across the aisle to get things done,” Cancian wrote.

Lugar Center Policy Director Dan Diller wrote that it was “especially disheartening that all eight new Senators who took office in January 2023 ranked in the bottom 30 percent of Senate scores.”

“Bipartisan cooperation on legislation in 2023 was deficient by historical standards, though there were some marginal improvements in scores from the previous Congress,” Diller wrote.

Among the 436 members of the U.S. House, Iowa’s delegation ranked as follows: Rep. Zach Nunn at No. 10;  Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks at No. 70; Rep. Randy Feenstra at No. 123, and Rep. Ashely Hinson at No. 142.

Among the 100 members of the U.S. Senate, Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley was ranked at No. 11, and Iowa’s Sen. Joni Ernst was ranked at No. 52.

The website with the rankings states that the “Bipartisan Index is intended to fill a hole in the information available to the public about the performance of Members of Congress.”

The Lugar Center, founded by the late U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican from Indiana, “is a platform for informed debate and analysis of global issues, including nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, global food security, foreign assistance effectiveness and global development, energy security, and enhancing bipartisan governance,” according to its website.

The rankings take into consideration “the frequency with which a member of Congress sponsors bills that are co-sponsored by at least one member of the opposing party” and “the frequency with which a member co-sponsors bills introduced by members of the opposite Party.”

Who is the most bipartisan?

The top 10 senators were:

Collins
Michigan Democrat Gary Peters
New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Hassan
West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin
Texas Republican John Cornyn
Nevada Democrat Jacky Rosen
Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski
Kansas Republican Jerry Moran
Indiana Republican Todd Young
Montana Democrat Jon Tester

The top 10 House lawmakers were:

Fitzpatrick
New York Republican Marcus Molinaro
New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas
New York Republican Mike Lawler
North Carolina Democrat Don Davis
Puerto Rico Republican Delegate Jenniffer González-Colón
Nevada Democrat Susie Lee
Nebraska Republican Don Bacon
New Jersey Democrat Josh Gottheimer
Iowa Republican Zach Nunn

The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University wrote on their website that their “aim in publishing this Index is not to promote a specific legislative agenda, as is the case for many indexes, but solely the promotion of a bipartisan approach to governance.”

“The credibility of the Index is derived from the objectivity of its methodology; Index scores are computed formulaically from publicly available data,” it states. “The Index requires no subjective assessment of specific legislative items.”

The least bipartisan House lawmakers following Jordan were New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Missouri Democrat Cori Bush, New York Democrat Jamaal Bowman and Missouri Republican Eric Burlison.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, ranked 423, but will likely be excluded from future scores since he has now occupied one of the top two leadership posts for at least six months.

The least bipartisan senators following Britt were Missouri Republican Eric Schmitt, Washington state Democrat Patty Murray, Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson and Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton.

Sean Ross, spokesperson for Britt, wrote in a statement that the ranking is “absurd.”

“Senator Britt has cosponsored 68 pieces of legislation sponsored by Democrats, as well as dozens and dozens of bipartisan pieces of legislation led by Republican sponsors,” Ross wrote. “The bipartisan efforts she is helping lead span a wide range of important topics to Alabamians, including maternal mortality research and maternal care; youth mental health and social media usage; the fentanyl crisis; affordable insulin access; affordable rural housing; telehealth services; agriculture; domestic manufacturing and supply chains; fair trade; work force development; wildlife conservation; supporting law enforcement; and consumer protections.”

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