Greatest Bipartisan Deals in Modern History

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Broken loose only after a record-breaking 60-day Senate filibuster was defeated with the help of Republican leader Everett Dirksen, this law ended legal segregation and remains the gold standard for what bipartisan courage can accomplish. LBJ needed GOP votes to overcome his own

Year Enacted: 1964Senate Support % (higher better): 73 %House Support % (higher better): 70 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 10/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Lyndon Johnson & Sen. Everett Dirksen (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 9/10

added by IJRin 3 rankingsCivil Rights Act of 1964

Marshall Plan (1948)

Sold to a Republican Congress by a Democratic administration as the only way to stop communism's spread, the Marshall Plan rebuilt Western Europe and cemented America's postwar global role. Senator Arthur Vandenberg's conversion from isolationist to internationalist champion made

Year Enacted: 1948Senate Support % (higher better): 80 %House Support % (higher better): 82 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 9/10Still Largely in Effect: —Key Dealmakers: Harry Truman & Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 6/10

added by IJR

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Passed months after the brutal images from Selma shocked the nation, this act used federal power to dismantle literacy tests and other tools of disenfranchisement. Republican votes were essential to clearing the Senate, proving that Bloody Sunday could move both parties even as S

Year Enacted: 1965Senate Support % (higher better): 80 %House Support % (higher better): 82 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 10/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Lyndon Johnson & Sen. Everett Dirksen (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 8/10

added by IJRin 3 rankingsVoting Rights Act of 1965

Social Security Amendments of 1983

Facing imminent trust-fund insolvency, Ronald Reagan and Speaker Tip O'Neill empowered the Greenspan Commission to broker a grand bargain of tax hikes and gradual benefit-age increases. It's remembered as the last time Washington fixed a major entitlement program before a crisis

Year Enacted: 1983Senate Support % (higher better): 80 %House Support % (higher better): 70 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 9/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Ronald Reagan & Speaker Tip O'Neill (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

Championed by conservative Republican Bob Dole and liberal Democrat Tom Harkin together, the ADA passed with near-unanimous margins and transformed physical and workplace access for millions. George H.W. Bush's signing-ceremony line 'let the shameful walls of exclusion finally co

Year Enacted: 1990Senate Support % (higher better): 94 %House Support % (higher better): 93 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 9/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Sen. Tom Harkin (D) & Sen. Bob Dole (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 3/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Tax Reform Act of 1986

An unlikely alliance between liberal Bill Bradley and the Reagan White House stripped out loopholes and collapsed tax brackets in the most sweeping tax overhaul since World War II. It's still cited by both parties as proof that comprehensive tax simplification is possible when id

Year Enacted: 1986Senate Support % (higher better): 76 %House Support % (higher better): 68 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 8/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Ronald Reagan & Sen. Bill Bradley (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 4/10

added by IJRTax Reform Act of 1986

Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986)

The Simpson-Mazzoli compromise paired amnesty for roughly three million undocumented immigrants with new employer sanctions, an exchange each side saw as a win. It's remembered fondly by both parties now precisely because Congress hasn't managed a comparable immigration deal sinc

Year Enacted: 1986Senate Support % (higher better): 72 %House Support % (higher better): 58 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 7/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Sen. Alan Simpson (R) & Rep. Romano Mazzoli (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 6/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Clean Air Act Amendments (1990)

George H.W. Bush pushed a market-based cap-and-trade system for acid rain through Congress with Senator George Mitchell's help, a rare case of a Republican president embracing an environmental mechanism Democrats later championed. The result slashed sulfur dioxide emissions faste

Year Enacted: 1990Senate Support % (higher better): 89 %House Support % (higher better): 94 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 8/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: George H.W. Bush & Sen. George Mitchell (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 3/10

added by IJR

Welfare Reform Act (1996)

Bill Clinton triangulated with Newt Gingrich's Republican Congress to end welfare 'as we know it,' replacing open-ended cash assistance with work requirements and time limits. Democrats still debate whether it was a pragmatic bipartisan triumph or a painful concession, which is e

Year Enacted: 1996Senate Support % (higher better): 79 %House Support % (higher better): 76 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 7/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Bill Clinton & Speaker Newt Gingrich (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 7/10

added by IJR

CARES Act (2020)

As the pandemic shut down the economy overnight, a Republican Senate and Democratic House produced a roughly two-trillion-dollar rescue package in record time, passing the Senate 96-0. It stands as the largest emergency relief bill in American history and a rare moment of total p

Year Enacted: 2020Senate Support % (higher better): 100 %House Support % (higher better): 96 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 7/10Still Largely in Effect: —Key Dealmakers: Donald Trump, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) & Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 4/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021)

Senators Rob Portman and Kyrsten Sinema anchored a bipartisan 'Gang of Ten' that delivered Joe Biden roughly a trillion dollars for roads, bridges, and broadband despite fierce opposition from both parties' flanks. It's the rare recent example of old-fashioned horse-trading survi

Year Enacted: 2021Senate Support % (higher better): 70 %House Support % (higher better): 52 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 7/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Joe Biden, Sen. Rob Portman (R) & Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

No Child Left Behind Act (2001)

George W. Bush and liberal lion Ted Kennedy forged an odd-couple partnership to impose national standardized testing and accountability on public schools. Its later unraveling under bipartisan criticism doesn't erase the fact that its passage was one of the biggest cross-aisle ed

Year Enacted: 2002Senate Support % (higher better): 90 %House Support % (higher better): 89 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 6/10Still Largely in Effect: —Key Dealmakers: George W. Bush & Sen. Ted Kennedy (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

USA PATRIOT Act (2001)

Passed weeks after 9/11 with a near-unanimous Senate vote of 98-1, this law expanded surveillance powers with support from both parties eager to show resolve against terrorism. Its bipartisan origin story has aged uneasily as civil-liberties concerns grew, but the deal itself was

Year Enacted: 2001Senate Support % (higher better): 99 %House Support % (higher better): 84 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 6/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: George W. Bush & bipartisan congressional leadershipControversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 8/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Telecommunications Act of 1996

A Republican-led Congress and Democratic White House rewrote the rules of media and telecom ownership for the internet age, betting that deregulation would spur competition. Whatever you think of the media consolidation that followed, the near-unanimous vote margins made it one o

Year Enacted: 1996Senate Support % (higher better): 95 %House Support % (higher better): 96 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 6/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Bill Clinton & Sen. Larry Pressler (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 4/10

added by IJRTelecommunications Act of 1996

Budget Control Act (2011)

Negotiated in the shadow of a looming debt-ceiling default, Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner traded spending caps and a 'super committee' for a debt limit increase, ultimately triggering the blunt-force sequester cuts. It's a bipartisan deal remembered less fondly than most,

Year Enacted: 2011Senate Support % (higher better): 74 %House Support % (higher better): 63 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 5/10Still Largely in Effect: —Key Dealmakers: Barack Obama & Speaker John Boehner (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 7/10

added by IJRin 2 rankings

Every Student Succeeds Act (2015)

Senators Lamar Alexander and Patty Murray teamed up to unwind the most unpopular parts of No Child Left Behind, returning more control to states while keeping some federal accountability. It passed with overwhelming margins and is often cited as proof Congress could still legisla

Year Enacted: 2015Senate Support % (higher better): 88 %House Support % (higher better): 85 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 6/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) & Sen. Patty Murray (D)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 3/10

added by IJR

Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (2022)

After the Uvalde school shooting, Senators Chris Murphy and John Cornyn broke a decades-long congressional stalemate on gun policy to pass modest but real reforms, including enhanced background checks for young buyers. It's the first major federal gun law in nearly thirty years a

Year Enacted: 2022Senate Support % (higher better): 66 %House Support % (higher better): 55 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 5/10Still Largely in Effect: ✓Key Dealmakers: Sen. Chris Murphy (D) & Sen. John Cornyn (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 6/10

added by IJR

Balanced Budget Act of 1997

Riding a booming economy, Bill Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich struck a deal that balanced the federal budget for the first time since 1969, mixing tax cuts with spending restraint. It's a reminder that divided government once produced fiscal deals both sides claimed as victori

Year Enacted: 1997Senate Support % (higher better): 85 %House Support % (higher better): 80 %Lasting Impact (0-10, higher better): 5/10Still Largely in Effect: —Key Dealmakers: Bill Clinton & Speaker Newt Gingrich (R)Controversy at Signing (0-10, lower calm: 3/10

added by IJRBalanced Budget Act of 1997