How We Score
Every Monday, the check-in reviews the prior week for every Democratic senator and representative and classifies each member's week one of two ways. The rules below are the whole method — public, so anyone can check our work.
The two verdicts
FOLLOWING THE MANDATE — the member advanced the priorities voters sent them to deliver: protecting people's healthcare, lowering costs, defending democratic norms. So is showing up for the votes that matter and using the tools of the office — amendments, motions, public pressure — rather than sitting them out.
ADVANCING THE ESTABLISHMENT — the member protected the status quo instead: voting for deals that trade the mandate away, bundling concessions into must-pass bills, backing leadership caves, or lending their name to the way Washington already works.
Primary sources only
Every classification rests on the primary record: roll-call votes published at Congress.gov and members' official statements. Each entry in a check-in cites the vote or statement it rests on — bill, roll-call number, and date — so a reader can verify it in minutes. Anonymous claims, rumor, and commentary are never a basis for a verdict.
Absent & accountable
Showing up is the first job. An absence from a significant vote is itself a finding: it is recorded in the member's week, named in the check-in, and it counts. A member who is not there when the mandate is on the line has made a choice, and the record shows it.
An honest quiet week
"No relevant action this week" is a valid finding, and the check-in prints it as such. Not every week has a significant vote. We never invent activity to fill a page, and a quiet week is neither praised nor scored as a failure.
Corrections
If we get something wrong, the correction runs in the next check-in, with a note saying what changed and why. The original entry is annotated, not silently replaced. The record is the product — it has to be right, and it has to be seen to be right.
Who runs this
Watch The Mandate is a citizen record-keeping project, run by citizens. It is not affiliated with any campaign, candidate, party, or committee, and no member of Congress has any say in what it publishes. The record speaks for itself.