The record for most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice president was broken on Tuesday by Kamala Harris, who set a new mark with her 32nd vote.
I want to emphasise that this is a momentous day. The record number of tie-breaking votes ever cast by Vice President Harris stands at 32. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed his gratitude to the Vice President for her leadership and for enabling the Senate’s work, echoing the sentiments of colleagues from both parties.
We couldn’t have passed the Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue Plan, or confirmed many of the outstanding judges currently serving on the bench if she hadn’t voted to break ties. Vice President Harris has answered the call of duty more times than any other vice president in our nation’s storied history, he continued.
The purpose of Tuesday’s vote was to resolve a deadlock about a nomination for a judge.
Harris had voiced hope prior to her inauguration that her power to break ties would remain unused.
Vice Presidents have only cast 268 tie-breaking votes since our nation’s establishment. She threatened to “work tirelessly” as vice president, even going so far as to fulfil this constitutional obligation, in a letter she sent before she took office. “Simultaneously, my sincere wish is that the Senate will avoid a deadlock by reaching a consensus and carrying out the will of the American people.”
In a short ceremony held in the Senate Reception Room, Schumer presented the “Golden Gavel” to Harris.
In 1999, after the Clinton impeachment trial concluded, Majority Leader Trent Lott presented the gavel to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and the tradition of bestowing the “Golden Gavel” on senators for presiding over the chamber for over 100 hours in a single session began, as recorded by the Senate Historical office.
The 2020 impeachment trial of President Trump concluded with Chief Justice John Robert receiving a Golden Gavel as well.