Congress Gov MCP

What is Congress Gov MCP?

Congress Gov MCP is an unofficial Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that wraps the public Congress.gov API. It exposes a comprehensive set of endpoints covering legislation, amendments, summaries, members, committees, hearings, votes, congressional records, and more, allowing AI assistants and other clients to retrieve up‑to‑date congressional information.

How to Use Congress Gov MCP?

1. Obtain an API key from the Congress.gov developer portal.
2. Set up the environment by cloning the repository, installing uv, and syncing dependencies.
3. Create a .env file from the template and add CONGRESS_GOV_API_KEY="your‑api‑key".
4. Run the server with uv run server.py (or configure your MCP‑compatible client as described).
5. Query the server using the MCP client syntax, for example:

   {"method": "GET", "path": "/bill/117/hr/1"}
   

   The server forwards the request to the underlying Congress.gov API and returns JSON data.

Key Features

• Full coverage of the Congress.gov REST endpoints (bills, amendments, summaries, members, committees, hearings, votes, records, etc.).
• Structured endpoint hierarchy mirroring the official API.
• Ready‑to‑use MCP configuration for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and any other MCP‑compatible client.
• Simple installation via Smithery or manual uv setup.
• Environment‑based API key management for secure operation.

Use Cases

• Legislative research assistants that need real‑time bill status, texts, and sponsor information.
• Chatbot integrations that answer user questions about recent congressional activity.
• Data pipelines that ingest congressional data for analytics, policy tracking, or news generation.
• Educational tools that provide students with searchable legislative records.
• Monitoring services that alert stakeholders about new votes, hearings, or amendments.

FAQ

Q: Do I need a paid subscription to the Congress.gov API? A: No, the API provides a free tier; however you must register for an API key.

Q: Can I run the server on Windows? A: Yes. Install uv for Windows, set up the .env file, and run uv run server.py.

Q: Which clients are supported? A: Any client that implements the Model Context Protocol, including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and other MCP‑compatible tools.

Q: How do I add my API key to the server configuration? A: Copy .env.template to .env and replace the placeholder with your key (CONGRESS_GOV_API_KEY="...").

Q: Is there a Docker image available? A: Not currently; the recommended approach is the lightweight uv installation.

Congress.gov MCP server

Ever wonder what our (US) Congress is up to? Tired of reading the news to find out? Ask the US Congress API yourself.

Unofficial MCP server for the Congress.gov API

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install congress_gov_mcp for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp --client claude

Manual Installation

Prerequisites

1. Install uv. The easiest way on macOS and Linux is:

   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
   

2. Get a Congress.gov API key.

3. Install Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another client that supports MCP Integrations

Initial Setup

1. Complete Prerequisites

2. Clone this repository, and cd in:

   git clone http://github.com/AshwinSundar/congress_gov_mcp
   

   cd congress_gov_mcp
   

3. Install dependencies:

   uv sync
   

4. Create a .env file from the template:

   cp .env.template .env
   

5. Add your Congress.gov API key to the .env file:

congress_gov_mcp/.env

CONGRESS_GOV_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Client Configuration

Claude Desktop

1. Complete Prerequisites

2. Copy the absolute path to your uv installation:

which uv

2. Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file, inside the mcpServers block:

   macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

   Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "congress_gov_mcp": {
      "command": "/absolute_path/to/uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "/absolute_path_to/congress_gov_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

1. Complete Prerequisites

2. Add the following to .mcp.json in the directory you are running Claude Code in, inside the mcpServers block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "congress_gov_mcp": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "/absolute_path_to/congress_gov_mcp/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Roadmap

• api.congress.gov
  • /bill
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{billType}
    • /{congress}/{billType}/{billNumber}
      • /actions
      • /amendments
      • /committees
      • /cosponsors
      • /relatedbills
      • /subjects
      • /summaries
      • /text
      • /titles
  • /amendment
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{amendmentType}
    • /{congress}/{amendmentType}/{amendmentNumber}
      • /actions
      • /cosponsors
      • /amendments
      • /text
  • /summaries
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{billType}
  • /congress
    • /{congress}
    • /current
  • /member
    • /{bioguideId}
      • /sponsored-legislation
      • /cosponsored-legislation
  • /committee
    • /{systemCode}
      • /bills
      • /reports
      • /nominations
      • /meetings
      • /hearings
      • /house-communication
      • /senate-communication
  • /committee-report
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{reportType}
    • /{congress}/{reportType}/{reportNumber}
      • /text
  • /committee-print
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{printType}
    • /{congress}/{printType}/{printNumber}
      • /text
  • /committee-meeting
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{chamber}
      • /meetings
  • /hearing
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{chamber}
    • /{congress}/{chamber}/{hearingNumber}
  • /house-vote
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{session}
    • /{congress}/{session}/{rollCallNumber}
  • /congressional-record
    • /{volume}
    • /{volume}/{pagePrefix}
    • /{volume}/{pagePrefix}/{pageNumber}
  • /daily-congressional-record
    • /{volume}
    • /{volume}/{issue}
  • /bound-congressional-record
    • /{year}
    • /{year}/{month}
    • /{year}/{month}/{day}
  • /house-communication
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}/{communicationNumber}
  • /house-requirement
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{requirementNumber}
  • /senate-communication
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}
    • /{congress}/{communicationType}/{communicationNumber}
  • /nomination
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{nominationNumber}
      • /actions
      • /hearings
  • /crsreport
    • /{productCode}
  • /treaty
    • /{congress}
    • /{congress}/{treatyNumber}
      • /actions
      • /committees