Harris breaks record for most tiebreaking Senate votes as VP

Vice President Harris set the record Tuesday for the most tiebreaking Senate votes cast by a vice president, breaking the nearly 200-year record.

Harris went to the Capitol to cast her 32nd tiebreaking vote to advance the nomination of Loren L. AliKhan to be a United States District Court judge for the District of Columbia. The previous record holder was former Vice President John C. Calhoun, who set the record of 31 tiebreaking Senate votes in 1832, according to the White House.

After she cast the vote, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said, “Madame Vice President.”

“Majority Leader,” she replied.

“Today is historic. Vice President Harris has just cast her 32nd tiebreaking vote, the most tiebreakers ever. I join all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, thanking the vice president for her leadership and for making the work of the Senate possible,” Schumer said.

Schumer also noted that without Harris’s tiebreaking votes, the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan wouldn’t have passed.

“Every time duty has called, Vice Preisdent Harris has answered. More than any other vice president in our nation's long and storied history,” he said, thanking her for her votes while also juggling the duties of her office.

Schumer then presented her with a golden gavel to commemorate the vote.

“I’m honored. I am truly honored. And history, the history we have made all of us when I think about the tiebreaker votes honor and pride to cast, whether it be the Inflation Reduction Act and what that meant in terms of an historic investment in addressing the climate crisis, and what it has meant in terms of capping insulin at $35 a month,” Harris said.

Schumer added that it’s appropriate she cast the tie-breaking votes to confirm judges “because two thirds have been people of color and two thirds have been women.”

Harris added, “Women!”

“The vice president’s tiebreaking votes have been consequential in moving the Biden-Harris agenda forward over the last three years. These tiebreaking votes have helped deliver for the American people by lowering costs for American families, creating good-paying jobs in local communities and providing economic relief for small businesses across the country,” a White House official said.

The official added that Harris’s tiebreaking votes have been to confirm nominees to ensure the federal government and judiciary represent the diversity of the U.S., as well as to advance pieces of President Biden’s agenda, including lowering the cost of prescription drugs and addressing the climate crisis.

Updated 1:51 p.m.