Former U.S. Sen. Mike Braun — now governor of Indiana — and U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin were among the 118th Congress’ most effective lawmakers

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Indiana’s Braun, Houchin named most effective GOP congressional lawmakers in housing, education

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Then-U.S. Sen. Mike Braun appears at an event for Republican gubernatorial candidates in Carmel on Jan. 25, 2024. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

The report used 15 metrics to rank the Capitol’s lawmakers across 21 policy areas.

Leslie Bonilla Muñiz

November 27, 2025

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Former U.S. Sen. Mike Braun — now governor of Indiana — and U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin were among the 118th Congress’ most effective lawmakers, in an issue-specific analysis by the Center for Effective Lawmaking.

The center is a nonpartisan collaboration between the University of Virginia’s Batten School and Vanderbilt University.

Researchers there used 15 indicators of effectiveness to calculate scores for lawmakers who served from January 2023 to 2025. The metrics gauge how many bills a lawmaker sponsored, how substantial the policy proposals within were, and how far those ideas moved though the legislative process.

Then, they identified the top two performers — a Republican and Democrat — across 21 policy areas. The results were published last week.

U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin was one of the nation’s most effective lawmakers on education during the last congressional term. (Courtesy photo)

Braun was named the most effective Senate Republican on housing policy. He got points for sponsoring two “substantive” pieces of housing-related legislation, one of which passed the Senate chamber, but didn’t become law.

Houchin was named the most effective House Republican on education matters. She sponsored one “substantive and significant” education proposal that became law, plus two “substantive” bills that died early on.

Committee chairs are often among best performers, but neither Braun nor Houchin led committees handling their respective top policy areas.

A broader analysis of the 118th Congress, released [[link removed]] in March, identified Braun as the ninth-most effective lawmaker in the Senate, as well as the chamber’s fourth-best Republican.

He was lauded for introducing 116 bills, seven of which passed the Senate and four of which became law. Braun was also listed among first-term senators “exceeding expectations” by outperforming a benchmark.

“With Sen. Braun concluding his service in the Senate to become Governor of Indiana in January 2025, it is clear that there will be one less effective lawmaker among the more senior ranks in the Senate moving forward,” researchers wrote at the time.

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