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GovTrack retired its public open-data feed and API after announcing the shutdown in December 2016, but its website remained available. For a local copy of congressional bill records, start with GovInfo’s bulk collections; for on-demand retrieval, evaluate the GovInfo API or Congress.gov API. None is documented as a drop-in replacement, so plan to map fields and validate the records your application needs.
What happened to the GovTrack API?
In a December 10, 2016 notice, GovTrack said: “Our open data and API will terminate next summer, once Congress begins its summer recess.” The notice also clarified that the change would not affect ordinary website users: “the GovTrack website will continue as always.” The notice records the planned retirement and advice available at that time; it does not establish that the third-party alternatives it mentioned are still available today. Read the GovTrack notice.
![Congressional district data book / U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Volume 88th Cong.(1963) 1963 [Leather Bound]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Czz1oQXxL._SL160_.jpg)
Which official source fits your use case?
| Option | Best fit | What it provides | Access and updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovInfo bulk data | A local replica or broad corpus | Separate congressional bill text, status, and summaries collections | Machine-readable XML, with XML and JSON directory forms documented for bulk collections. GovInfo RSS notifications and sitemaps can help discover updates. |
| GovInfo API | Targeted retrieval or discovering updated content | Collection-level lists of new or updated content and package-level summaries, files, and metadata; some packages contain granules | Requires an api.data.gov key. |
| Congress.gov API | Bill-specific request/response access | Bill list, bill detail, actions, and amendments routes | Requires an api.data.gov key. |
These sources serve different retrieval needs; the documentation does not establish one universal replacement. See the GovInfo Bulk Data Repository, GovInfo Developer Hub, GovInfo API documentation, and Congress.gov API documentation.
Where can you download official congressional bill data in bulk?
GovInfo’s Congressional Bills repository publishes machine-readable XML organized by Congress. Its page currently lists the 113th through 119th Congresses; the 119th Congress covers 2025–2026. These listings and repository timestamps can change, so check the live collection before planning an importer or relying on a particular Congress being listed. Open Congressional Bills on GovInfo.
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Do not treat “bill data” as one uniform dataset. GovInfo documents different historical starting points for each collection:
| GovInfo dataset | Documented coverage |
|---|---|
| Congressional bill text | 113th Congress to present |
| Congressional bill status | 108th Congress to present |
| Congressional bill summaries | 113th Congress to present |
The collections have distinct coverage and purposes. Review the relevant Developer Hub guidance and its linked GPO user guides for the XML schemas and files before choosing a parser.
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How do you migrate an app that used GovTrack’s bill API?
- Inventory what the app actually consumes. Separate bill text, status and action history, summaries, sponsor and cosponsor information, and any GovTrack-specific derived fields. This determines whether you need one collection, several, or an API.
- Choose the retrieval pattern. For a broad corpus or local replica, begin with GovInfo bulk data. For targeted retrieval or update discovery, assess the GovInfo API. For bill-focused requests involving lists, details, actions, or amendments, assess Congress.gov’s API.
- Build a translation layer. Do not assume GovInfo or Congress.gov shares GovTrack’s schema. Compare identifiers, bill types and numbers, Congress numbering, action records, and text versions using representative records. The official documentation does not provide a field-by-field GovTrack migration map.
- Validate coverage and results. Test the Congresses and record types your app needs, including records near the historical limits of each bulk dataset. Check that mapped fields support the app’s actual queries and displays before switching production traffic.
- Plan for update discovery and reconciliation. GovInfo says its RSS feeds cover new and updated items, but feeds can be suspended during large reprocessing. The Developer Hub recommends considering sitemaps in that situation. Periodically reconciling your local data against the source is a prudent implementation measure, not an official completeness guarantee.
How do you find all bills for a Congress and get vote data?
GovInfo’s Congressional Bills bulk collection is a starting point for finding bill records by Congress, while the Congress.gov API documents bill list, detail, actions, and amendments routes. The documentation cited here does not establish a complete migration path for vote data or guarantee that either API reproduces GovTrack’s former vote-related fields. Treat vote coverage as a separate requirement: identify the exact vote records and relationships your application needs, then verify them against the official endpoint or dataset documentation before relying on them.
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