POLITICS
VP Kamala Harris Breaks Pre-Civil War Record With Senate Tie-Breaker Vote
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Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday broke the record for casting tie-breaking votes in the U.S. Senate, with 32 so far in her tenure.
The previous record of 31 ties broken by a vice president was set by John C. Calhoun, who was in office from 1825 to 1832.
Although vice presidents serve alongside the president in the executive branch, they also serve as president of the Senate, and cast their vote break ties.
Harris broke the record on Tuesday with her vote on the nomination of Loren Alikhan to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the Senate floor to congratulate Harris on the record, and later presented her with a golden gavel to mark the moment.
Without her tie-breaking votes there would be no American Rescue Plan, no Inflation Reduction Act, and we would not have confirmed many of the excellent judges now presiding on the bench. Every time duty is called, Vice President Harris has answered, more than any other Vice President in our nations long and stories history,” Schumer said.
When she resigned from the Senate before being sworn in as vice president, Harris mentioned in an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle that she hoped she would not have to use her tie-breaking authority.
“Since our nations founding, only 268 tie-breaking votes have been cast by a Vice President. I intend to work tirelessly as your Vice President, including, if necessary, fulfilling this Constitutional duty,” Harris wrote. “At the same time, it is my hope that rather than come to the point of a tie, the Senate will instead find common ground and do the work of the American people.”
President Joe Biden, when he served as vice president under President Barack Obama, did not cast a single tie-breaking vote. Former Vice President Mike Pence cast 13. The unusually high number of ties in the Senate during the 117th Congress, which ran from 2021 to 2023, stems from an even split between Democrats and Republicans, with two independents in the chamber.
TMX contributed to this article.
