About This Site

Most Americans assume that when a bill dies in Congress, it lost a vote. It did not. It was never given one.

The United States Congress introduces thousands of pieces of legislation every session. The vast majority never receive a hearing, a markup, or a floor vote. They are referred to committee and never heard from again. No explanation is given. No accountability is required. The elected officials who introduced them move on, often running for reelection on the very promises those buried bills were meant to keep.

This site was built on a simple belief: democracy requires transparency, and transparency requires tools. Every American deserves to know what their representative introduced, where it went, and how long it has been sitting in silence.

Who Built This

My name is Curt Zilbersher. I am a civic technologist and independent researcher based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Over a 25-year career designing data-driven platforms and information systems for organizations including Analog Devices, Deloitte, GE Capital, Philips, and BNSF Railway, I developed a deep appreciation for what good data architecture can reveal and what its absence conceals. I built this site as a private citizen who got tired of opacity and decided to do something about it.

I am not a lobbyist. I am not affiliated with any political party, PAC, or advocacy organization. The data powering this site comes entirely from Congress.gov, the official database of the United States Congress, maintained by the Library of Congress. Every bill, every sponsor, every committee referral, every date is sourced directly from that official record. The government created the data. I just made it impossible to ignore.

A Note on Nonpartisanship

This site does not take sides. Republican bills are here. Democratic bills are here. Independent bills are here. The leaderboard does not favor one party. The filters do not hide one chamber. If your representative buried legislation, regardless of their party, you will find it here. Accountability is not a partisan issue. It is a civic one.

The Technology

Who Killed the Bill? is built on Next.js, Supabase, and the Congress.gov API. It tracks every bill introduced in the 119th Congress (January 2025 to January 2027) that was referred to committee and received no hearing, no markup, and no recorded vote. Bills are classified as abandoned after 180 days of inactivity following committee referral. A full description of the methodology is available on the Methodology page.

Press Inquiries

Journalists and researchers are welcome to use this data. For methodology questions, data requests, or press inquiries, contact:

Curt Zilbersher

press@whokilledthebill.com