Risch was one of four freshmen Republican Senators in the 111th Congress of 2009, with Mike Johanns of Nebraska, George LeMieux of Florida and Scott Brown of Massachusetts.
Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho called Risch "results-oriented".

In 2017, Risch was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.

On August 11, 2017, in an interview on the PBS Newshour, Risch endorsed Trump's threatening North Korea with military destruction in the event that country launched missiles at Guam.

On March 22, 2018, the day before a potential federal government shutdown, Risch threatened to block a government spending bill because it included changing the name of the White Clouds Wilderness protected area to honor a deceased political rival, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus.
Risch ultimately acquiesced.

In January 2019, Risch joined Marco Rubio, Cory Gardner, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in introducing legislation that would impose sanctions on the government of President of Syria Bashar al-Assad and bolster American cooperation with Israel and Jordan.

On January 21, 2020, during the first day of opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, Risch was the first senator to fall asleep.
His nap was memorialized by courtroom sketch artist Art Lien.

In 2020, while Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Risch decided not to press Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify for the annual budget hearing.
Pompeo had just successfully sought to have State Department inspector general Steve Linick fired; at the time, Linick had been conducting a watchdog investigation into the Trump administration's decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval.

Committee assignments
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Energy Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Foreign Relations (Chairman)
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs
Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
Subcommittee on African Affairs
Subcommittee on European Affairs
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Ethics
Select Committee on Intelligence
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
Risch was one of four freshmen Republican Senators in the 111th Congress of 2009, with Mike Johanns of Nebraska, George LeMieux of Florida and Scott Brown of Massachusetts. Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho called Risch "results-oriented".
In 2017, Risch was one of 22 senators to sign a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.
On August 11, 2017, in an interview on the PBS Newshour, Risch endorsed Trump's threatening North Korea with military destruction in the event that country launched missiles at Guam.
On March 22, 2018, the day before a potential federal government shutdown, Risch threatened to block a government spending bill because it included changing the name of the White Clouds Wilderness protected area to honor a deceased political rival, former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus. Risch ultimately acquiesced.
In January 2019, Risch joined Marco Rubio, Cory Gardner, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in introducing legislation that would impose sanctions on the government of President of Syria Bashar al-Assad and bolster American cooperation with Israel and Jordan.
On January 21, 2020, during the first day of opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, Risch was the first senator to fall asleep. His nap was memorialized by courtroom sketch artist Art Lien.
In 2020, while Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Risch decided not to press Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to testify for the annual budget hearing. Pompeo had just successfully sought to have State Department inspector general Steve Linick fired; at the time, Linick had been conducting a watchdog investigation into the Trump administration's decision to sell arms to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval.
Committee assignments
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Energy Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests
Subcommittee on Water and Power
Committee on Foreign Relations (Chairman)
Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs
Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
Subcommittee on African Affairs
Subcommittee on European Affairs
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Select Committee on Ethics
Select Committee on Intelligence
Caucuses
Senate Republican Conference
Jim Risch