Kamala Harris does something no vice president has in nearly 200 years. What to know
Vice President Kamala Harris broke a nearly two century old record for casting the most tie-breaking votes in the Senate.
In casting her 32nd tie-breaking vote on Dec. 5, she eclipsed a 19th century vice president’s record 31 deciding votes.
“I’m truly honored and proud to have been able to do this,” Harris said, after voting to advance the nomination of Loren AliKhan for a district court judgeship.
John Calhoun, an antebellum era vice president and staunch defender of slavery, held the previous record for the most tie-breaking votes in the Senate.
In recent years, vice presidents have lodged significantly less tie-splitting votes. Former Vice President Mike Pence entered 13 such votes, and before him, former Vice President Joe Biden cast no such votes.
Vice Presidents Dick Cheney, Al Gore, Dan Quayle and George H.W. Bush all cast either no or single digit tie-breaking votes.
Harris, though, has repeatedly been tasked with breaking deadlocks in the Senate, which has been closely divided between Democrats and Republicans.
Currently, there are 48 Democrats, 49 Republicans and three independents in the Senate. But of the independents, two — Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine — caucus with the Democrats. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party in 2022, becoming the Senate’s third independent.
Most of Harris’ tie-breaking votes have been over the nominations of federal officeholders, but others have been on signature pieces of legislation promoted by the Biden Administration, including the American Rescue Plan Act, which provided $1.9 trillion in economic relief during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
She also cast the tie-breaking vote over the Inflation Reduction Act, which lowered prescription drug prices and promoted investment in clean energy, among other things, according to the White House.
Without Harris’ vote, “we wouldn’t have had the (Inflation Reduction Act); we wouldn’t have had the (American) Rescue Plan; we wouldn’t have had so many of the good judges and appointees we’ve had,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, before awarding Harris a “golden gavel” for her efforts.
Schumer added “it’s very appropriate” that Harris cast the tie-breaking vote for federal judges because “two-thirds have been people of color and two-thirds have been women.”
This story was originally published December 6, 2023 at 10:08 AM with the headline "Kamala Harris does something no vice president has in nearly 200 years. What to know."