US Vice President Harris breaks nearly 200-year-old record for Senate tiebreaker votes, casts her 32nd

PTI, Dec 6, 2023, 9:29 AM IST

Vice President Kamala Harris broke a nearly 200-year-old record for casting the most tiebreaking votes in the US Senate when she voted Tuesday to confirm a new federal judge in Washington, DC.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, called Harris’ 32nd tiebreaking vote a “great milestone”.

The previous recordholder was John C Calhoun, who cast 31 tiebreaking votes during his eight years as vice president, from 1825 to 1832. Harris, a Democrat, tied Calhoun’s record in July.

Casting tiebreaker votes is among the only constitutional duties for vice presidents, and Harris has been repeatedly called on to break deadlocks because the Senate is closely divided between Democrats and Republicans.

Besides judicial nominations, Harris has helped advance the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief measure, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which limited the costs of prescription drugs and created financial incentives or clean energy.