Vice President Harris cast her 25th tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday, moving her within six votes of the nearly two-century record held by former Vice President John Calhoun.
The constitution stipulates that the vice president also serves as president of the Senate and has the power to sever ties, which has happened with some regularity over the past year and a half, given the 50-50 makeup of the upper chamber.
Harris has already provided more tiebreakers than almost any other vice president except John Adams and Calhoun, who served from 1825 to 1832.
Calhoun holds the record of 31 casting votes from his tenure as vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. John Adams, who served as vice president for nearly eight years under George Washington, had 29 tiebreakers.
However, Harris has yielded more tiebreakers than either Adams or Calhoun in the equivalent moments of their vice-presidencies.
She has mostly cut ties to confirm President Biden’s nominations, although she has also appeared on the Senate floor for other 50-50 splits, such as when she voted to open debate on the US bailout.
Harris’ role as a tiebreaker came into the spotlight again Sunday when she broke a tie to advance the long-awaited $740 billion bill, which includes provisions to raise corporate taxes, address climate change, lower spending for prescription drugs and reducing the federal deficit. Her vote was met with applause from the hall.
Passage of the bill in the Senate first required the support of all 50 Democrats, as all Republicans were united in opposition.
The Biden administration and Senate Democratic leadership had hoped to pass a larger reconciliation package last year called Build Back Better, but the bill was doomed after Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) refused to support the package.
Manchin has been negotiating behind closed doors in recent months for a watered-down reconciliation package that passed the Senate on Sunday after winning the support of Sen. Kirsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) this week, the latest pushback from Democrats.
The reconciliation package now heads to the House for consideration.
Winners and losers from the Democratic tax bill, health care and climate change
How often Harris casts the deciding vote for the rest of Biden’s term will largely depend on the outcome of this year’s Senate midterm elections.
Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted a close race for the Senate majority.
“I think it will be very tense. We have a 50-50 nation. And I think when that Senate race breaks down, we’re probably still going to have a very, very close Senate, with a slight lift for us or a slight lift for the Democrats,” McConnell said Wednesday on Fox New’s “Special Report.”
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