Vice President Kamala Harris is rated the second most liberal senator in the 116th Congress, behind Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, according to GovTrack.
The analysis aims to rank how partisan each senator is based on whether they sponsor or co-sponsor bills or resolutions that overlap with other senators, he said. Government Truck — a nonpartisan organization that tracks lawmakers and their voting records. Based on this method, Harris Number 2 The most liberal member of the 116th Congress, which ran from January 3, 2019 to January 3, 2021. (Related article: US border crisis could get worse under Kamala Harris administration, experts say)
One metric compares the number of bipartisan bills each senator co-sponsored with the number of bills they co-sponsored overall. 14.4% 50% of the bills she co-sponsored were bipartisan, ranking 97th out of 100 senators. In addition, in the 116th Congress, Harris co-sponsored One The bill she introduced became law, tying her for 87th place in that category.
Harris' GovTrack rating contradicts reports that characterize her as a centrist politician. The New York Times In August 2020, he described her as a “pragmatic moderate.”
WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN – JULY 23: Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at West Allis Central High School in West Allis, Wisconsin, on July 23, 2024. Harris has been endorsed by President Biden and is making her first campaign appearance as the party's presidential candidate. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
Harris has come under fire for her hard-line stance on marijuana during her time as California's attorney general, during which she jailed about 2,000 people for marijuana-related offenses and resisted a new parole system on the grounds that it would create a gap in the prison labor talent pool.
However, after taking office as a senator, Harris introduced legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession.
Harris' policy record on health care reform has also been mixed.
In 2017, she co-signed Bernie Sanders' “Medicare for All” bill, which aimed to eliminate private insurance and create a new single-payer system in which the federal government would be the sole provider of health care services. However, in July 2019, she proposed her own version of a “Medicare for All” bill that would allow private insurers to exist as long as they comply with “strict Medicare requirements on costs and benefits.”
As vice president, Harris moved further to the center, supporting Biden's health care strategy of increasing Medicaid enrollment and increasing drug price transparency.
“Our analysis contradicts her record as a pragmatist or moderate prior to joining Congress,” said GovTrack founder Josh Tauberer. Said “It remains to be seen what parts of her career — her actions as district attorney and attorney general or her policy proposals in Congress — will figure prominently in a Biden administration,” The Sacramento Bee wrote in 2020.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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