Harris matches record for tiebreaking Senate votes as vice president

Vice President Harris matched the record for casting the most tiebreaking votes of any vice president in Senate history Wednesday.  

Harris broke a 50-50 tie on a vote to advance the nomination of Kalpana Kotagal to serve as a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, bringing her total of tiebreaking votes cast as vice president to 31.  

That matches the record set by Sen. John C. Calhoun, a Democratic-Republican and an avowed proponent of states’ rights and slavery, who served as vice president to John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson from 1825 to 1832.  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) hailed Harris’s accomplishment on the floor Wednesday evening.  

“I want to note that this is a history-making moment for the United States Senate,” he said. “When it’s mattered most, Vice President Harris has provided the decisive vote on some of the most historic bills of modern times, from the American Rescue Plan to the Inflation Reduction Act, to so many federal judges who now preside and provide balance on the federal bench. 

“She’s carried out her duties with supreme excellence,” he added. 

As vice president, Harris also serves as president of the Senate, giving her the authority to break deadlocks on the Senate floor. 

She voted on June 21 to break a 50-50 tie on advancing Natasha Merle’s nomination to serve as a judge for the Eastern District of New York and a 48-48 tie on confirming Araceli Martinez-Olguin to serve as a judge for the North District of California.