FOR RELEASE: Thursday, April 23, 2026
Just Announced: 2026 Limited Government Index and Awardees
ILA Releases the Most Comprehensive Ideological Rankings of the U.S. Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Institute for Legislative Analysis (ILA) has released its annual 2026 Limited Government Index (LGI), the most comprehensive ideological dataset produced on the U.S. Congress, detailing the policy stances of all 535 lawmakers. In addition, ILA released the 2026 Congressional Voting Report, which tracks broader voting trends and shifts in political ideology.
2026 LGI by the Numbers:
- 305 roll calls with detailed summaries and limited government analyses
- 89,125 lawmaker votes compiled to rank every member of Congress
- 6,955 ratings released on Congress across 10 policy categories
The First District-Based Grading System:
Using Cook PVI election data and ILA’s proprietary algorithms, the District-Based Grading System is the first platform capable of comparing each member of Congress to his or her unique constituency base in order to provide a more holistic evaluation of lawmaker performance.
Next-Level Policy Guidance:
Identifying the limited government position on policy is not always easy. That is why ILA is excited to announce the launch of new policy centers to help provide guidance, beginning with one of the most regulated and complex sectors: healthcare. Next week, ILA will launch The Center for Healthcare Affordability (CHA).
The CHA has compiled studies and policy research from leading conservative and center-right organizations to provide lawmakers and their staffs with limited government solutions to the most challenging healthcare issues across this vast industry. Additionally, ILA’s new Healthcare Affordability Index will track not only lawmaker votes, but also sponsorships and other actions, grading who is actually making healthcare more or less affordable.
“We are excited to release this latest edition of our Limited Government Index,” said Ryan McGowan, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Legislative Analysis. “While scorecards based on a handful of votes can be useful for showing differences among lawmakers, our annual index covers every substantive vote and is designed to show how political philosophies and party dynamics change over time. Coupled with our latest tools and new policy centers, we hope to make the limited government position better known and lawmakers more accountable.”
The ILA serves as a national public policy research and data hub, and its underlying datasets on Congress and state legislatures also support the scorecards and publications of a range of research and advocacy organizations.
For media inquiries, contact press@limitedgov.org or 301-542-2399.
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Institute for Legislative Analysis
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