Washington (Washington Insider Megazine) January 27, 2026 – Bipartisanship in the United States Congress refers to cooperation between Democrats and Republicans on legislation, appointments, or other official actions in a two‑party system. While long‑term data show that bipartisan collaboration has declined compared with the late 1980s, it continues to shape key laws that reach the president’s desk. Recent sessions of Congress have produced a series of cross‑party measures, including consumer protection, technology, broadband, and supply chain bills backed by members from both parties. Researchers also report that individual lawmakers who consistently attract support from the opposite party tend to be more successful in advancing their bills through the legislative process.
Bipartisanship in Congress generally describes legislation or actions supported by members of both major parties, in contrast with strictly partisan initiatives backed only by one side. In the contemporary US context, the term is applied when Republicans and Democrats cooperate on drafting, co‑sponsoring, or voting for bills, as well as in negotiations over budgets, nominations, and emergency measures.
What Bipartisanship in Congress Means
In a two‑party system such as that of the United States, bipartisanship is defined as
“relating to or involving members of two political parties,”
and in practice it is used for actions where both Republicans and Democrats reach agreement. Political reference works describe it as collaboration between parties to create mutually acceptable public policy, usually involving compromise on key provisions so that both sides can support the final text. This can include joint work on the language of bills, shared sponsorship, and coordinated efforts to move legislation through committee and floor stages.
Bipartisan legislation in Congress is often associated with relatively moderate measures or with responses to pressing circumstances, such as economic difficulties or other national challenges that encourage cross‑party cooperation. Outside formal votes, bipartisan practices may also appear in informal working groups, caucuses that include members of both parties, and cross‑party negotiations over appropriations or reauthorisation packages.
Long-Term Trends in Bipartisan Activity
Analyses of congressional activity over recent decades indicate that bipartisan collaboration has declined compared with earlier periods, though it remains a regular feature of lawmaking. One study of House and Senate behaviour from the 93rd to the 114th Congresses (covering 1973–2016) found that the share of co‑sponsors drawn from the opposite party on individual members’ bills has decreased over time, even as it continues to represent a significant portion of overall bill support.
Separate data compiled by legislative analytics firm Quorum show that the proportion of bills introduced with bipartisan support fell by around 30 percent between 1989 and 2017. According to that analysis, nearly 35 percent of bills introduced in 1989 had sponsors or co‑sponsors from both parties, compared with 21 percent in 2011, with the figure stabilising at roughly 24 percent in 2017.
The same dataset records that 7,162 bills were introduced in the first session of the 115th Congress in 2017, with 97 enacted that year, placing that Congress among the least productive of the past fourteen in terms of laws signed.
Bipartisanship and Legislative Effectiveness
Academic research into congressional lawmaking has examined whether cross‑party cooperation benefits individual members. A working paper from Northwestern University’s Institute for Policy Research covering both chambers from 1973 to 2016 reports a strong positive relationship between the proportion of a legislator’s co‑sponsors who come from the opposite party and measures of that legislator’s effectiveness.
In this study, lawmakers who consistently secured greater support from the other party were more likely to move their bills out of committee, onto the floor, and towards final passage.
The research highlights that, although the share of bipartisan co‑sponsorship has declined since the 1970s, a substantial fraction of co‑sponsors on bills in both the House and Senate still come from the other party. For representatives, roughly 20 percent of co‑sponsors were drawn from the opposing party in recent Congresses in the period studied, down from around 40 percent in earlier decades, while in the Senate the comparable share declined to about 30 percent.
These findings indicate that bipartisan engagement continues to operate as a practical route for lawmakers seeking to improve the prospects of their legislative proposals.
Examples from Recent Bipartisan Legislation
Although polarisation is widely documented, cross‑party initiatives continue to appear in recent Congresses, including in the 118th Congress (2023–2024). In December 2024, the Further Continuing Appropriations and Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025 incorporated several bipartisan bills that had been introduced or supported by senators from both parties.
These included the TAKE IT DOWN Act, the TICKET Act, and the Informing Consumers About Smart Devices Act, all of which attracted co‑operation from Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Commerce Committee.
The TICKET Act, moving in the House as H.R. 3950 and previously introduced in the Senate as S. 1303, aims to require event ticket sellers to display the total price, including all mandatory fees, upfront in advertising and marketing materials. The House text also adds rules against speculative ticketing, new transparency requirements for resold tickets, and provisions on refunds and replacement of tickets.
This measure has been advanced by both parties, with Republican and Democratic sponsors and co‑sponsors in each chamber.
Bipartisan Measures Embedded in Spending Legislation
The same appropriations package carried a series of additional bipartisan bills from members of the Senate Commerce Committee and others. These included the Rural Broadband Protection Act of 2024 (S. 275), sponsored by Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, which aims to provide safeguards around broadband funding for rural areas. The American Music Tourism Act of 2024 (S. 4212), led by Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper of Colorado, was also attached as a bipartisan initiative.
Other cross‑party provisions incorporated into the same vehicle included the Removing Our Unsecure Technologies to Ensure Reliability and Security (ROUTERS) Act (H.R. 7589 and its Senate counterpart S. 4572), introduced with Republican and Democratic sponsors, and the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act of 2024 (S. 4375), backed by Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington and Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
The Hotel Fees Transparency Act of 2024 (S. 2498), authored by Senator Klobuchar and Republican Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, the Youth Poisoning Prevention Act (S. 2233), sponsored by Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Republican Senator J.D.
Vance of Ohio, and the Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains Act of 2023 (S. 229), introduced by Senator Gary Peters, Senator Rick Scott, and Senator Blackburn, likewise moved forward on a bipartisan basis. Companion measures in the House were led by members from both parties, including representatives Maria Elvira Salazar and Madeleine Dean on one of the semiconductor‑related efforts.
Bipartisanship in Cosponsorship and Co-operation Patterns
Beyond headline laws, bipartisanship in Congress often manifests through patterns of co‑sponsorship and committee work. Legislative databases tracking all bills in each Congress show that a significant share of measures still receive at least one co‑sponsor from the opposite party, even if the proportion has declined compared with earlier decades. Such co‑sponsorship can indicate willingness to collaborate across party lines on more specific policy areas, including infrastructure, veterans’ affairs, and certain regulatory issues.
Data from the period 1973–2016 suggest that members who invest effort in building bipartisan coalitions tend to experience higher success rates in advancing their proposals, particularly in getting bills reported from committee and considered on the floor. According to this research, bipartisanship in co‑sponsorship can help lawmakers navigate institutional hurdles, even when overall partisan tensions remain high. These patterns are observable in both chambers, though the exact levels of cross‑party involvement differ between the House and Senate.
Bipartisanship in a Polarised Environment
Political reference sources emphasise that bipartisanship remains less common than strictly partisan behaviour in the contemporary UnitedStates, given the ideological distance between the main party bases. In this environment, bipartisan policy‑making is described as an “unusual occurrence,” with party leaders often aligned closely with either liberal or conservative constituencies that expect firm partisan positions.
Nonetheless, the same sources note that moderate or rank‑and‑file legislators can still drive cross‑party initiatives, particularly on technical, regulatory, or locally focused issues where common interests are easier to identify.
General surveys of congressional activity in the 2010s and early 2020s record persistent reports of polarisation and gridlock, including a low number of bills enacted in certain sessions relative to historical averages. At the same time, the presence of cross‑party co‑sponsorship on thousands of measures, and the passage of packages combining multiple bipartisan bills, indicate that cooperation continues to play a role alongside partisan conflict in the day‑to‑day functioning of Congress.
Context of Bipartisanship Within the US System
Within the broader US constitutional framework, bipartisanship interacts with the separation of powers and the frequent occurrence of divided government, when the presidency and one or both chambers of Congress are controlled by different parties. Educational overviews note that such arrangements can require negotiation between branches and parties to enact legislation, particularly on appropriations and major policy changes.
In these settings, agreements that secure support from members of both parties can be necessary to move key measures, including budget deals and reauthorisations, through both chambers and onto the president’s desk.
Where consensus is not reached, observers have documented periods of legislative standstill and, in some cases, short‑term federal government shutdowns linked to funding disputes. Against this backdrop, formal studies and descriptive accounts alike show that bipartisanship—measured through co‑sponsorship, cross‑party coalitions, or jointly negotiated packages—remains one of the mechanisms by which Congress continues to produce laws in a highly competitive two‑party environment.