Tie-breaking votes cast by Kamala Harris in the U.S. Senate
Vice President Kamala Harris (D) cast 33 tie-breaking votes in the U.S. Senate. The majority of Harris' tie-breaking votes, 26, were cast during the 117th Congress, when the U.S. Senate had a 50-50 partisan makeup. The rest of her votes were cast during the 118th Congress, when the U.S. Senate had a 51-49 Democratic majority.
Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution, the vice president of the United States also serves as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, he or she may cast the deciding vote when there is a tie in the Senate.
John Adams cast the first tie-breaking vote on July 18, 1789. As of July 15, 2025, there were 308 tie-breaking votes from 38 vice presidents. Kamala Harris (D) (2021-2025) cast the most tie-breaking votes (33) during her tenure as vice president, John C. Calhoun (1825 - 1832) cast the second most (31), and Adams (1789 - 1797) cast the third most (29).
Twelve vice presidents, including Joe Biden and Dan Quayle, never cast a tie-breaking vote during their time in office.[1]
For an overview of tie-breaking votes cast by previous vice presidents, click here.
Click here to read about Vice President J.D. Vance's tie-breaking votes during the second Trump administration.
Harris' tie-breaking votes in the U.S. Senate
Vice President Kamala Harris (D) cast 33 tie-breaking votes in the Senate:
- December 5, 2023:
- The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Loren AliKhan to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. Harris broke the tie to invoke cloture. This was Harris' 32nd tie-breaking vote, the most tie-breaking votes ever cast by a vice president.[2]
- The Senate voted 50-50 on the nomination of Loren AliKhan to be United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. Harris broke the tie to confirm the nomination.[3]
- July 12, 2023: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to be a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Harris broke the tie to invoke cloture.[4]
- June 21, 2023: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Natasha Merle to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Harris broke the tie to invoke cloture.[5]
- March 1, 2023: The Senate voted 48-48 on the nomination of Margaret R. Guzman to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts. Harris broke the tie to approve the nomination.[6]
- February 28, 2023:
- The Senate voted 48-48 on the nomination of Araceli Martinez-Olguin to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California. Harris broke the tie to approve the nomination.[7]
- The Senate voted 48-48 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Margaret R. Guzman to be United States District Judge for the District of Massachusetts. Harris broke the tie to invoke cloture on the nomination.[8]
- August 7, 2022:
- The Senate voted 50-50 to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. Harris broke the tie to pass the bill.[9]
- The Senate voted 50-50 to pass an amendment to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Harris broke the tie to affirm the amendment.
- August 6, 2022: The Senate voted 50-50 on a motion to proceed with debate on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Harris broke the tie to affirm the motion.[10]
- May 12, 2022: The Senate voted 50-50 to discharge the nomination of Mary T. Boyle to be a Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[11]
- May 11, 2022:
- The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on and to confirm Alvaro M. Bedoya to be a Federal Trade Commissioner. Harris broke the tie to support the motion and cast a second tie-breaking vote to confirm Bedoya.[12][13]
- The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on and to confirm Julia Ruth Gordon to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Harris broke the tie to support the motion and cast a second tie-breaking vote to confirm Gordon.[14][15]
- May 10, 2022: The Senate voted 50-50 to confirm Lisa Cook to be a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Harris broke the tie to support the confirmation.[16]
- April 5, 2022: The Senate voted 50-50 to discharge the nomination of Julia Ruth Gordon to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[17]
- March 30, 2022: The Senate voted 50-50 to discharge the nomination of Alvaro M. Bedoya to be a Federal Trade Commissioner from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[18]
- December 8, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on and to confirm the nomination of Rachel S. Rollins for U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. Harris broke the tie to support the motion and cast a second tie-breaking vote to confirm Rollins.[19][20]
- November 17, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 invoke cloture on the nomination of Brain Eddie Nelson for Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[21]
- November 3, 2021: The Senate voted 49-49 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Jennifer Sung to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[22]
- October 20, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on and to confirm the nomination of Catherine Elizabeth Lhamon for assistant secretary for civil rights of the Department of Education. Harris broke the tie to support the motion and cast a second tie-breaking vote to confirm Lhamon.[23]
- September 30, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Rohit Chopra for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[24]
- July 21, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to confirm Jennifer Abruzzo as general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Harris broke the tie to confirm Abruzzo.[25]
- July 20, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Jennifer Abruzzo for general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[26]
- June 22, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to confirm Kiran Ahuja as director of the Office of Personnel Management. Harris broke the tie to confirm Ahuja.[27]
- June 22, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to invoke cloture on the nomination of Kiran Ahuja for director of the Office of Personnel Management. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[27]
- April 21, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 on a motion to discharge the nomination of Colin Kahl for under secretary of defense for policy. Harris broke the tie to support the motion.[28]
- March 4, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 on a motion to proceed with debate on the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Harris broke the tie to affirm the motion.[29]
- February 5, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to adopt a budget resolution relating to COVID-19 economic relief. Harris broke the tie to adopt the resolution.[30]
- February 5, 2021: The Senate voted 50-50 to adopt an amendment proposed by Sen. Chuck Schumer on the budget resolution. Harris broke the tie to adopt the amendment.[31]
Historical tie-breaking votes
Overview
The table below lists the number of tie-breaking votes cast by every vice president.[1][32][33]
Historical tie-breaking votes by vice presidents | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vice president | Tie-breaking votes | Years served | Days in office | Administration(s) | |||
John Adams | 29 | 1789 - 1797 | 2,874 | George Washington | |||
Thomas Jefferson | 3 | 1797 - 1801 | 1,460 | John Adams | |||
Aaron Burr | 3 | 1801 - 1805 | 1,461 | Thomas Jefferson | |||
George Clinton | 14 | 1805 - 1812 | 2,604 | Thomas Jefferson, James Madison | |||
Elbridge Gerry | 9 | 1813 - 1814 | 629 | James Madison | |||
Daniel D. Tompkins | 6 | 1817 - 1825 | 2,922 | James Monroe | |||
John C. Calhoun | 31 | 1825 - 1832 | 2,856 | John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson | |||
Martin Van Buren | 4 | 1833 - 1837 | 1,461 | Andrew Jackson | |||
Richard M. Johnson | 14 | 1837 - 1841 | 1,461 | Martin Van Buren | |||
John Tyler | 0 | 1841 | 31 | William H. Harrison | |||
George M. Dallas | 19 | 1845 - 1849 | 1,461 | James K. Polk | |||
Millard Fillmore | 3 | 1849 - 1850 | 492 | Zachary Taylor | |||
William R. King | 0 | 1853 | 45 | Franklin Pierce | |||
John C. Breckinridge | 10 | 1957 - 1861 | 1,461 | James Buchanan | |||
Hannibal Hamlin | 7 | 1861 - 1865 | 1,461 | Abraham Lincoln | |||
Andrew Johnson | 0 | 1865 | 42 | Abraham Lincoln | |||
Schuyler Colfax | 18 | 1869 - 1873 | 1,461 | Ulysses S. Grant | |||
Henry Wilson | 1 | 1873 - 1875 | 993 | Ulysses S. Grant | |||
William A. Wheeler | 6 | 1877 - 1881 | 1,461 | Rutherford B. Hayes | |||
Chester A. Arthur | 3 | 1881 | 199 | James A. Garfield | |||
Thomas A. Hendricks | 0 | 1885 | 266 | Grover Cleveland | |||
Levi P. Morton | 4 | 1889 - 1893 | 1,461 | Benjamin Harrison | |||
Adlai E. Stevenson | 2 | 1893 - 1897 | 1,461 | Grover Cleveland | |||
Garret A. Hobart | 1 | 1897 - 1899 | 992 | William McKinley | |||
Theodore Roosevelt | 0 | 1901 | 194 | William McKinley | |||
Charles W. Fairbanks | 0 | 1905 - 1909 | 1,461 | Theodore Roosevelt | |||
James S. Sherman | 4 | 1909 - 1912 | 1,336 | William H. Taft | |||
Thomas R. Marshall | 9 | 1913 - 1921 | 2,922 | Woodrow Wilson | |||
Calvin Coolidge | 0 | 1921 - 1923 | 881 | Warren G. Harding | |||
Charles G. Dawes | 2 | 1925 - 1929 | 1,461 | Calvin Coolidge | |||
Charles Curtis | 3 | 1929 - 1933 | 1,461 | Herbert C. Hoover | |||
John N. Garner | 3 | 1933 - 1941 | 2,879 | Franklin Roosevelt | |||
Henry A. Wallace | 4 | 1941 - 1945 | 1,461 | Franklin Roosevelt | |||
Harry S. Truman | 1 | 1945 | 82 | Franklin Roosevelt | |||
Alben W. Barkley | 8 | 1949 - 1953 | 1,461 | Harry S. Truman | |||
Richard M. Nixon | 8 | 1953 - 1961 | 2,922 | Dwight Eisenhower | |||
Lyndon B. Johnson | 0 | 1961 - 1963 | 1,036 | John Kennedy | |||
Hubert H. Humphrey | 4 | 1965 - 1969 | 1,461 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |||
Spiro T. Agnew | 2 | 1969 - 1973 | 1,724 | Richard Nixon | |||
Gerald R. Ford | 0 | 1973 - 1974 | 246 | Richard Nixon | |||
Nelson A. Rockefeller | 0 | 1974 - 1977 | 763 | Gerald R. Ford | |||
Walter Mondale | 1 | 1977 - 1981 | 1,461 | Jimmy Carter | |||
George H.W. Bush | 7 | 1981 - 1989 | 2,922 | Ronald Reagan | |||
Dan Quayle | 0 | 1989 - 1993 | 1,461 | George H.W. Bush | |||
Albert Gore | 4 | 1993 - 2001 | 2,922 | Bill Clinton | |||
Richard B. Cheney | 8 | 2001 - 2009 | 2,922 | George W. Bush | |||
Joe Biden | 0 | 2009 - 2017 | 2,922 | Barack Obama | |||
Mike Pence | 13 | 2017 - 2021 | 1,461 | Donald Trump | |||
Kamala Harris | 33 | 2021 - 2025 | 1,461 | Joe Biden | |||
J.D. Vance | 7 | 2025-present | 267 | Donald Trump |
Comparison of tie-breaking votes cast by vice presidents, 1981-2025
The following chart compares the number of tie-breaking votes cast by each U.S. vice president after 1981.
See also
- Tie-breaking votes cast by J.D. Vance in the U.S. Senate
- Tie-breaking votes cast by vice presidents in the Senate
- Kamala Harris
- Kamala Harris presidential campaign, 2024
- Mike Pence
- Joe Biden
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Senate.gov, "Occasions When Vice Presidents Have Voted to Break Tie Votes in the Senate," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ United States Senate Periodical Press Gallery, "TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023," December 5, 2023
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 118th Congress - 1st Session," accessed December 5, 2023
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 118th Congress - 1st Session," accessed July 13, 2023
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 118th Congress - 1st Session," June 21, 2023
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 118th Congress - 1st Session," March 1, 2023
- ↑ Congress.gov, "PN76 — Araceli Martinez-Olguin — The Judiciary," accessed March 1, 2023
- ↑ Congress.gov, "PN77 — Margaret R. Guzman — The Judiciary," accessed March 1, 2023
- ↑ United States Senate, "Votes to Break Ties in the Senate," accessed August 8, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed August 6, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed May 13, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed May 13, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed May 13, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed May 13, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed May 13, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed May 10, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed April 8, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 2nd Session," accessed April 1, 2022
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 1st Session," accessed December 9, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 1st Session," accessed December 9, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 1st Session," accessed November 19, 2021
- ↑ U.S. Senate, "Roll Call Vote 117th Congress - 1st Session," November 3, 2021
- ↑ Congress.gov, "PN572 — Catherine Elizabeth Lhamon — Department of Education," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ Congress.gov, "PN116 — Rohit Chopra — Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection," accessed October 1, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Jennifer Ann Abruzzo, of New York, to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board)," July 21, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Jennifer Ann Abruzzo to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board)," July 20, 2021
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Congress.gov, "PN220 — Kiran Arjandas Ahuja — Office of Personnel Management," June 22, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Motion to Discharge (Motion to Discharge Colin Hackett Kahl to be Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from the Committee on Armed Services)," April 21, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, " On the Motion to Proceed (Motion to Proceed to H.R. 1319)," March 4, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Concurrent Resolution (S. Con. Res. 5, As Amended )," February 5, 2021
- ↑ Senate.gov, "On the Amendment (Schumer Amdt. No. 888 )," February 5, 2021
- ↑ House.gov, "Presidents, Vice Presidents, & Coinciding Sessions of Congress," accessed March 30, 2017
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Joe Biden Has 10 Days Left To Cast His First Tie-Breaking Vote," January 10, 2017