I built the tool I wanted to use.
I'm an Air Force veteran. I started paying attention to VA bills because they decide things I live with: what's covered, who qualifies, what changes and when.
Keeping up was harder than it should have been. The good trackers were paywalled. A lot of the "summaries" I found were opinion pieces in disguise. And congress.gov, the official source, is accurate and nearly unreadable unless you already speak the language.
So I built this in my off hours over the last few years. Open America pulls straight from congress.gov and the House and Senate clerks, cleans the data up, and checks for new floor activity every minute Congress is in session. Most of it is free and stays that way. The laws that shape your life shouldn't sit behind a subscription.
Fermin F. Garcia IV
Air Force veteran
What it does
Bill pages. The plain-English summary, sponsor, policy area, full text, and the whole action history on one screen.
Legislator pages. Every member with their voting record, committee seats, sponsored bills, and how to reach them.
Ask the bill. Plain-language answers about what a bill actually does, drawn from the bill's own text. It tells you when something isn't in the text instead of guessing.
Watchlists. Star a bill or a member. Your dashboard shows what moved since your last visit, and email alerts can reach you the moment it happens.
Live floor. The House floor feed updates within a minute or two of the clerk publishing it, so you're not waiting until the next morning's news.
Weekly digest. One email Friday morning: what became law, what voted close, and what's coming up.
Who it's for
It's for anyone who has tried to get a straight answer about Congress and given up.
The constituent checking whether their senator actually shows up, and votes the way they campaigned. The reporter or creator who needs a citation that traces back to the official record instead of a paywall. The veteran, parent, or small-business owner who needs to know what a specific bill does before it lands on them, like the Veterans' Bill of Rights Act of 2026. Every active bill has its own page with the sponsor, cosponsors, action history, and a link to the official text.
The rules I built it on
Primary sources only
Every figure traces back to congress.gov or the House and Senate clerks. Nothing on the site is invented by a model. If you want to check a number, the methodology shows exactly where it came from.
No ads, no tracking
I don't run ads, I don't sell your data, and I don't load analytics that follow you around the web.
No slant
I show you the record and let you draw your own conclusions. There's no opinion section and no party I'm carrying water for.
The facts stay free
Browsing every bill, member, and vote costs nothing and always will. Paid plans add convenience like unlimited watchlists and alerts, never access to the facts themselves.
Get started
Make a free account, look up your representatives, and follow the bills you care about.
Create your account Explore the dataI build and maintain Open America myself, on my own time. It's independent, and not affiliated with any party, lobbying group, or media outlet.