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United States Vice Presidents' tie-breaking votes

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The Vice President of the United States is, ex officio, the President of the United States Senate and votes only to break a tie.

Contents

Historical significance

The first President of the Senate, John Adams, cast twenty-nine tie-breaking votes — a record that none of his successors have matched. His votes protected the president's sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, and prevented war with Great Britain. On at least one occasion he persuaded senators to vote against legislation that he opposed, and he frequently lectured the Senate on procedural and policy matters. Adams's political views and his active role in the Senate made him a natural target for critics of the Washington administration. Toward the end of his first term, as a result of a threatened resolution that would have silenced him except for procedural and policy matters, he began to exercise more restraint in the hope of realizing the goal shared by many of his successors: election in his own right as president of the United States.

In 2001, during the 107th Congress, the Senate was divided 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats and thus Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the Senate majority. Interestingly, however, because the 107th Congress was sworn in on January 3rd, while the president and vice president were not sworn in until the 20th, Democrats technically held a 51-50 majority in the Senate for the 17 days while Al Gore was still Vice President. However, no substantive legislating was done in this time.

List of Presidents of the Senate by number of tie-breaking votes

There have been 243 tie-breaking votes cast by 46 Presidents of the Senate. The median number of tie-breaking votes cast is three per Senate President. The mean number is 5.28 tie-breaking votes per Senate President.
Rank by
# of Tie-
breaking
votes 		# of Tie-
breaking
votes 		President of the Senate Party # in
Office 		Term of Office President(s)
1 29 John Adams Federalist 1 April 21, 1789 – March 4, 1797 Washington
2 28 John Calhoun Democratic-Republican 7 March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832 J. Q. Adams / Jackson
3 19 George Dallas Democrat 11 March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 Polk
4 17 Richard Johnson Democrat 9 March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841 Van Buren
4 17 Schuyler Colfax Republican 17 March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1873 Grant
6 12 George Clinton Democratic-Republican 4 March 4, 1805 – April 20, 1812 Jefferson / Madison
7 9 John Breckinridge Democrat 14 March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 Buchanan
8 8 Thomas Marshall Democrat 28 March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921 Wilson
8 8 Alben Barkley Democrat 35 January 20, 1949 – January 20, 1953 Truman
8 8 Richard Nixon Republican 36 January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961 Eisenhower
11 7 Hannibal Hamlin Republican 15 March 4, 1861 – March 4, 1865 Lincoln
11 7 George H. W. Bush Republican 43 January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989 Reagan
11* 7* Dick Cheney Republican 46 January 20, 2001–present* G. W. Bush
14 6 Elbridge Gerry Democratic-Republican 5 March 4, 1813 – November 23, 1814 Madison
14 6 William Wheeler Republican 19 March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881 Hayes
16 4 Martin Van Buren Democrat 8 March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1837 Jackson
16 4 Levi Morton Republican 22 March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893 B. Harrison
16 4 James Sherman Republican 27 March 4, 1909 – October 30, 1912 Taft
16 4 Henry Wallace Democrat 33 January 20, 1941 – January 20, 1945 F. Roosevelt
16 4 Hubert Humphrey Democrat 38 January 20, 1965 – January 20, 1969 L. B. Johnson
16 4 Al Gore Democrat 45 January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001 Clinton
22 3 Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican 2 March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801 J. Adams
22 3 Aaron Burr Democratic-Republican 3 March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1805 Jefferson
22 3 Daniel Tompkins Democratic-Republican 6 March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825 Monroe
22 3 Millard Fillmore Whig 12 March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 Taylor
22 3 Chester Arthur Republican 20 March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 Garfield
22 3 Charles Curtis Republican 31 March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 Hoover
22 3 John Garner Democrat 32 March 4, 1933 – January 20, 1941 F. Roosevelt
29 2 Adlai E. Stevenson Democrat 23 March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897 Cleveland
29 2 Charles Dawes Republican 30 March 4, 1925 – March 4, 1929 Coolidge
29 2 Spiro Agnew Republican 39 January 20, 1969 – October 10, 1973 Nixon
32 1 Henry Wilson Republican 18 March 4, 1873 – November 22, 1875 Grant
32 1 Garret Hobart Republican 24 March 4, 1897 – November 21,1899 McKinley
32 1 Harry Truman Democrat 34 January 20, 1945 – April 12, 1945 F. Roosevelt
32 1 Walter Mondale Democrat 42 January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981 Carter
36 0 John Tyler Whig 10 March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 W. H. Harrison
36 0 William King Democrat 13 March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 Pierce
36 0 Andrew Johnson Democrat 16 March 4, 1865 – April 15, 1865 Lincoln
36 0 Thomas Hendricks Democrat 21 March 4, 1885 – November 25, 1885 Cleveland
36 0 Theodore Roosevelt Republican 25 March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901 McKinley
36 0 Charles Fairbanks Republican 26 March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1909 T. Roosevelt
36 0 Calvin Coolidge Republican 29 March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 Harding
36 0 Lyndon Johnson Democrat 37 January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 Kennedy
36 0 Gerald Ford Republican 40 December 6, 1973 – August 9, 1974 Nixon
36 0 Nelson Rockefeller Republican 41 December 19, 1974 – January 20, 1977 Ford
36 0 Dan Quayle Republican 44 January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993 G. H. W. Bush
*As of January 1, 2006

List of tie-breaking votes since 1981

This is an incomplete list of all tie-breaking votes cast by Presidents of the Senate.

Senate President Date Bill Vote Ultimate result
George H.W. Bush July 13, 1983 Motion to table Pryor Amdt.1468 on nerve gas Yea: 50-49
November 8, 1983 Stevens/Tower/Goldwater Amdt.2517 on nerve gas Yea: 47-46
June 14, 1984 Motion to table Moynihan Amdt.3208 on MX missiles Yea: 49-48
May 10, 1985 Dole Amdt.93 on cutting deficit Yea: 50-49
July 23, 1986 Motion to reconsider vote on Manion nomination Nay: 49-50
August 7, 1986 Pryor Amdt.2612 on nerve gas Nay: 50-51
September 22, 1987 Motion to table Johnston Amdt.710 on SDI funding Yea: 51-50
Dan Quayle None
Al Gore June 25 1993 H.R. 2264 (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993) Yea: 50-49 Conference Report (see below) enacted as Public Law No. 103-66.
August 6 1993 H.R. 2264 (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993) Conference Report Yea: 51-50 Enacted.
Public Law No. 103-66.
August 3 1994 Motion to table S. Amdt. 2446 (Johnston Ethanol Limitation Amendment) to H.R. 4624 (Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 1995) Yea: 51-50 S. Amdt. 2446 tabled
May 20 1999 S. Amdt. 362 (Lautenberg Gun Show Sales Amendment) to S. 254 (School Safety Act of 1999) Yea: 51-50 S. 254 rejected by House by voice vote for Senate's lack of constitutional jurisdiction
Dick Cheney April 3 2001 S. Amdt. 173 (Grassley Prescription Drug Reserve Fund Amendment) to H.Con.Res. 83 (2002 budget) Yea: 51-50 Enacted
April 5 2001 S. Amdt. 347 (Hutchison Marriage Penalty Tax Elimination Amendment) to H.Con.Res. 83 (2002 budget) Yea: 51-50 Enacted
May 21 2002 Motion to table S. Amdt. 3406 (Allen Mortgage Loan Amendment) to H.R. 3009 (Trade Act of 2002) Yea: 50-49 Tabled
April 11 2003 H.Con.Res. 95 (2004 budget) Yea: 51-50 Enacted
May 15 2003 S. Amdt. 664 (Nickles Dividend Exclusion Amendment) to S. 1054 (Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003) Yea: 51-50 S. 1054 incorporated into H.R. 2 (see below), which is enacted as Public Law No. 108-27.
May 23 2003 H.R. 2 (Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003) Conference Report Yea: 51-50 Enacted.
Public Law No. 108-27.
December 21 2005 S. 1932 (Work, Marriage, and Family Promotion Reconciliation Act of 2005) Yea:
51-50 		Pending.
Bill sent to conference committee
Source: [Votes by Vice Presidents to Break Tie Votes in the Senate] and [Occasions When Vice Presidents Have Voted To Break Tie Votes In The Senate] via Senate.gov

External links

  Lists of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ]
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Editing United States Vice Presidents' tie-breaking votes

 

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