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U.S. Senator from Texas

John Cornyn

Republican · Texas

Former Texas Attorney General and Supreme Court Justice, serving since 2002. Senate Majority Whip. Co-negotiated Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on gun safety.

Record

Conservative mainstream Republican. One of few Republicans to co-negotiate gun safety legislation. Focus on judicial nominations, border security, and energy policy.

Legislative Record

Recently sponsored bills (8 on record)

  • S.5078 — Small Tax Case Threshold Modernization Act (Introduced, Jul 22, 2026)
  • S.5024 — Stop PRC Economic Espionage Act of 2026 (Introduced, Jul 16, 2026)
  • S.4968 — Mystic Alerts Act (Introduced, Jul 14, 2026)
  • S.4826 — SABER Act of 2026 (Introduced, Jun 18, 2026)
  • S.4827 — POWER ON Act of 2026 (Introduced, Jun 18, 2026)
  • S.4797 — Fresh Starts for Foster Youth Act (Introduced, Jun 16, 2026)
  • S.4766 — A bill to require the Secretary of Defense to establish a pilot program to evaluate the safety, quality, and qualification pathways of printable energetic feedstocks for controlled additive manufacturing applications. (Introduced, Jun 11, 2026)
  • S.4775 — Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts Act (Introduced, Jun 11, 2026)

Notable votes

  • Voted Yea on S.Res. 817 — S. Res. 817 (Resolution Agreed to, Jul 30, 2026)
  • Voted Yea on S.Res. 817 — Motion to Invoke Cloture: S. Res. 817 (Cloture Motion Agreed to, Jul 29, 2026)
  • Voted Yea on H.R. 6644 — Motion to Invoke Cloture: Motion to Concur in the House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 6644 with an Amendment (SA 5823) (Cloture Motion Agreed to, Jun 18, 2026)
  • Voted Yea on S. 2 — S. 2, As Amended (Bill Passed, Jun 5, 2026)
  • Voted Nay on S. 2 — Cortez Masto Amdt. No. 5463 (Amendment Rejected, Jun 5, 2026)
  • Voted Nay on S. 2 — Padilla Amdt. No. 5808 (Amendment Rejected, Jun 5, 2026)
  • Voted Nay on S. 2 — Gallego Amdt. No. 5813 (Amendment Rejected, Jun 5, 2026)
  • Voted Nay on S. 2 — Peters Amdt. No. 5763 (Amendment Rejected, Jun 5, 2026)

Recently cosponsored bills (12 on record)

  • S.5175 — A bill to amend the Arms Export Control Act to address third party transfers of certain defense articles for Ukraine, and for other purposes. (Introduced, Jul 30, 2026)
  • S.4944 — American Energy and Mineral Infrastructure Act of 2026 (Introduced, Jul 29, 2026)
  • S.3940 — Access to Fair Financing for Opportunity and Resilient Development Act (Introduced, Jul 28, 2026)
  • S.5073 — Tax Complexity and Fraud Prevention Review Act (Introduced, Jul 22, 2026)
  • S.5072 — Taxpayer Transparency and Notice Act (Introduced, Jul 22, 2026)
  • S.5067 — Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Expansion Act (Introduced, Jul 22, 2026)
  • S.2265 — America's Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act (Introduced, Jul 21, 2026)
  • S.2195 — WWII Nurses Congressional Gold Medal Act (Introduced, Jul 20, 2026)

Voting analysis

John Cornyn is the Senate majority whip, the member whose formal task is holding a conference to the party position. The largest block of his own departures from it belongs to a single bill.

3.2%
Votes against the Republican majority
218
Roll calls where a party majority formed
43 of 51
Rank among Senate Republicans, most defections first

Counting against his own count

The bill was a foreign aid supplemental, and he is recorded supporting it at every gate it had to clear: the motion to end debate, the amendment that carried its substance, the second cloture motion covering that amendment, and passage itself. At each of those points most Republicans voted the other way. A whip standing on the far side of a whip count is not a position leadership occupies often.

His three remaining departures are an amendment he backed that his party rejected, one he rejected that his party backed, and a spending amendment he supported against the conference.

All 7 roll calls where John Cornyn voted against the Senate Republican majority.
Roll callDateOutcomeTheir vote
H.R. 1
Lee Amdt. No. 2745
On the Amendment S.Amdt. 2745 to S.Amdt. 2360 to H.R. 1 (No short title on file) · roll call 119		Jul 1, 2025Amendment RejectedYea (party: Nay)
H.R. 82
Paul Amdt. No. 3352
On the Amendment S.Amdt. 3352 to H.R. 82 (No short title on file) · roll call 118		Dec 20, 2024Amendment RejectedNay (party: Yea)
H.R. 815
H.R. 815, as Amended
On Passage of the Bill H.R. 815 · roll call 118		Feb 13, 2024Bill PassedYea (party: Nay)
H.R. 815
Motion to Invoke Cloture Re: H.R. 815
On the Cloture Motion H.R. 815 · roll call 118		Feb 12, 2024Cloture Motion Agreed toYea (party: Nay)
H.R. 815
Murray Amdt. No. 1388
On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1388 to H.R. 815 (No short title on file) · roll call 118		Feb 12, 2024Amendment Agreed toYea (party: Nay)
H.R. 815
Motion to Invoke Cloture Re: Murray Amdt. No. 1388 to H.R. 815
On the Cloture Motion H.R. 815 · roll call 118		Feb 11, 2024Cloture Motion Agreed toYea (party: Nay)
H.R. 4366
Paul Amdt. No. 1347
On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1347 to S.Amdt. 1092 to H.R. 4366 (No short title on file) · roll call 118		Nov 1, 2023Amendment RejectedYea (party: Nay)

The Texas seats

Texas holds two Republican Senate seats, and the state average shown below is pulled well clear of Cornyn's own rate by the other one.

Among the 2 Republicans in the Texas delegation, the average rate of voting against the party majority is 7.2%. John Cornyn is below that average at 3.2%.

Committee portfolio and filings

He chairs the international narcotics control caucus and a finance subcommittee on trade and customs, and sits on judiciary, foreign relations, intelligence, budget and the joint taxation committee — one of the broader full-committee spreads in the chamber. Crime and law enforcement lead his classified bills, which suits both the narcotics gavel and his years as a state attorney general. The filings include a tax court threshold change, an economic espionage measure aimed at China, an alerts bill, the SABER Act and the POWER ON Act.

Sponsored bills carry the Congressional Research Service's own subject classification. John Cornyn's cluster into: Crime and Law Enforcement (2), Armed Forces and National Security (1), Energy (1), Families (1), International Affairs (1), Science, Technology, Communications (1).

1642
Bills sponsored
4074
Bills cosponsored

Of the 8 most recent of those, 8 currently sit at Introduced.

Tenure and attendance

He came to the Senate at the start of the two-thousands, after serving on his state's supreme court and then as its attorney general. His absences are minimal.

First elected in 2002, now serving across 13 terms. John Cornyn falls in the veteran cohort.

0.9%
Roll calls recorded as not voting
220
Roll calls eligible to vote on
2
Recorded as not voting

By the numbers

In the 119th Congress, John Cornyn has 1642 bills sponsored, 4074 cosponsored, 8 recent floor votes recorded.

Committee assignments

  • Joint Committee on Taxation
  • Senate Committee on Finance
  • Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Senate Committee on the Budget
  • Senate Committee on the Judiciary
  • Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
  • United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control (Chairman)
  • Senate Committee on Finance: Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
  • Senate Committee on Finance: International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness (Chairman)
  • Senate Committee on Finance: Taxation and IRS Oversight
  • Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: Africa and Global Health Policy
  • Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy

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