A concept initially introduced by the now-defunct FiveThirtyEight.com has been significantly expanded and revived as the “Trump Score,” a new metric to measure how closely members of Congress align with President Donald Trump’s policy positions.
A new scorecard, powered by the Institute for Legislative Analysis, reveals substantial divisions within both the Democratic and Republican parties, underscoring a complex legislative landscape.
The new score, which covers both Republicans and Democrats, is based on the most comprehensive dataset ever compiled on the U.S. Congress, according to Ryan McGowan, CEO of the Institute for Legislative Analysis.
It utilizes a wider range of data points than its predecessor, incorporating not only Trump’s public statements and the official Republican Party platform under Trump, but also often-overlooked amendments and procedural motions to boost accuracy.
This new methodology aims to resolve issues in the original score, such as situations where both the far-left and far-right opposed the same bill for different reasons.
Florida Delegation Highlights Wide Spectrum of Support
The new Trump Score provides detailed insight into the Florida congressional delegation, showcasing a wide spectrum of alignment.
Most Aligned Florida Republicans:
- Rick Scott (95.83%)
- Greg Steube (95.56%)
- Anna Paulina Luna (94.07%)
- Byron Donalds (93.52%)
Least Aligned Florida Republicans:
- Mario Diaz-Balart (68.62%)
- Maria Salazar (68.17%)
These two Republicans opposed Trump’s policy positions across nearly a third of their votes, indicating a significant break from the former president’s platform.
On the Democratic side, Jared Moskowitz (20.23%) was the most aligned, while Frederica Wilson (4.61%) was the least aligned with Trump’s policy stances.
National Findings Show Internal Party Fissures
The initial national findings confirm that rhetoric on Capitol Hill often masks a more complex reality, particularly within the GOP.
“The media’s focus on high-profile bills and headline votes often creates the impression that members of both parties are unified in either their support for or opposition to President Trump and his policies,” said Ryan McGowan, CEO of the Institute for Legislative Analysis. He added that the data makes it “clear that — despite the rhetoric — a number of lawmakers’ voting records don’t truly align with the America First agenda they project on the campaign trail or in the media.”
Key National Trends:
- Republicans most frequently broke from Trump on spending issues, yet showed strong alignment on crime-related legislation.
- Democrats were more unified in opposing Trump’s positions than Republicans were in supporting them.
- When Democrats did align with Trump, it was most often on foreign policy or civil liberties issues, such as those related to FISA votes.
The Institute for Legislative Analysis has also expanded coverage to state-level lawmakers in launch states Maryland and Idaho and plans to expand to all 7,400+ state legislators nationwide. The full scores are available at GOPScorecard.com.
READ: GOP Lawmakers Demand Records On FBI’s ‘Arctic Frost’ Data Collection Targeting Lawmakers
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