Tom Cotton

U.S. Senator · Arkansas · Republican · Chair, Select Committee on Intelligence

From public records: votes from Voteview, bills from congress.gov, money from FEC filings · votes updated Nov 10, 2026 · How we measure

Effectiveness, 119th Congress so far

How it’s measured

1.24· expected 1.48

Meets expectations

Rank 24 of 100 in the Senate · expected = average of 21 majority-party committee chairs

How far Cotton’s own bills got, weighted by substance. The average member scores 1.00.

93 bills and joint resolutions sponsored: 1 significant (got a roll call vote), 92 substantive, 0 commemorative. Compare the Senate

Became law (1)

1 technical

S. 4465 A bill to amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and for other purposes.Extends Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Title VII authorities for electronic surveillance of foreign targets until June 12, 2026. AI-readBecame law Apr 30, 2026 · Armed Forces and National SecurityTechnical

Scope tags come from an AI reading of each bill where available, otherwise from its title and policy area. They don’t change the score. How scope is tagged

How Cotton’s ratings compare with every senator

Ratings, 119th Congress

Scores run 0–100 and always sit next to a median. Each tick is one senator; the ringed marker is Cotton.

Cotton in plain answers: party votes, bipartisanship, who votes alike

Attendance

How it’s measured

98/ 100

Chamber median 98 · 14 missed of 915

Voted on 901 of 915 roll calls; missed 14. Higher than 62% of senators.

85%100%

Party loyalty

How it’s measured

100/ 100

Senate R median 100 · Rank 20 of 53

Sided with the Republican majority on 828 votes that split the parties. Higher than 75% of senators.

75%100%

Bipartisan

How it’s measured

9/ 100

Chamber median 9 · +0

Average agreement with members of the other party on contested votes. Higher than 58% of senators.

0%30%

Position

How it’s measured

+0.58

Republican middle 80%: 0.38 to 0.78

Left–right position from roll-call similarity (DW-NOMINATE, Voteview), from −1 to +1. Members who vote alike sit near each other.

LiberalConservative

Cotton’s bills that made it out of committee or further

All bills

3 bills and joint resolutions sponsored in the 119th Congress, furthest along first. These are the bills counted in Cotton’s effectiveness score.

S. 4465 A bill to amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, and for other purposes.Extends Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Title VII authorities for electronic surveillance of foreign targets until June 12, 2026. AI-readArmed Forces and National Security · Became law Apr 30, 2026Substantive193 words Technical
S. 4344 A bill to extend section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 for 3 years.Extends Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act section 702 authority for three years. AI-readArmed Forces and National Security · Introduced May 13, 2026SubstantiveText pending Introduced
S. 1552 Living Donor Protection Act of 2025Prohibits insurance carriers from denying coverage based on living organ donor status. AI-readHealth · Out of committee Mar 11, 2026Substantive1.3k words Out of committee

Stage comes from each bill’s latest action on congress.gov; the full history is on each bill page.