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

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

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:

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   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:

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

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   cd congress_gov_mcp

3. Install dependencies:

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   uv sync

4. Create a .env file from the template:

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   cp .env.template .env

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

congress_gov_mcp/.env

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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"
      ]
    }
  }
}