Sen. Michael Bennet

Senator for Colorado

pronounced MĪ-kul // BEH-nut

Bennet is the senior senator from Colorado and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan. 22, 2009. Bennet is next up for reelection in 2028 and serves until Jan. 3, 2029. He is 60 years old.

Photo of Sen. Michael Bennet [D-CO]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2024 Report Card for Bennet.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Bennet is shown as a purple triangle in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills legislators have sponsored and cosponsored from Jan. 6, 2021 to Aug. 2, 2025. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Bennet sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Bennet was the primary sponsor of 14 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

View All »

Does 14 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.

We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Bennet sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Health (25%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (22%) Taxation (16%) Government Operations and Politics (9%) Agriculture and Food (8%) Science, Technology, Communications (7%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (6%) Education (6%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Bennet recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Bennet voted Nay

Bennet voted Nay

Motion Agreed to 71/28 on Feb. 9, 2018.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of funding for the federal government through March 23, 2018, to avert a government shutdown that would have …

Bennet voted Yea

Bennet voted Yea

Bill Passed 72/26 on Sept. 28, 2016.

The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations …

Bennet voted Nay

Bill Passed 76/16 on Dec. 16, 2014.

Bennet voted Yea

Joint Resolution Passed 78/22 on Sept. 18, 2014.

Bennet voted Nay

Bill Passed 89/8 on Jan. 1, 2013.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (Pub.L. 112–240, H.R. 8, 126 Stat. 2313, enacted January 2, 2013) was passed by the United States Congress …

Bennet voted Yea

Motion Agreed to 81/19 on Dec. 15, 2010.

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known …

Missed Votes

From Jan 2009 to Aug 2025, Bennet missed 183 of 5,777 roll call votes, which is 3.2%. This is on par with the median of 2.8% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absences, major life events, and running for higher office. Legislators running for president or vice president typically miss votes while on the campaign trail — that’s normal. See our analysis of presidential candidates’ missed votes.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: