Super-Majority Votes in the Senate (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised April 12, 2010 |
| Report Number |
98-779 |
| Authors |
Walter J. Oleszek, Senior Specialist in American National Government |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The Senate has long been known for its emphasis on minority rights, for it provides extensive procedural protections to individuals and minority coalitions. Yet most issues in the Senate are decided by a simple majority vote: one-half-plus-one of the Members voting, assuming the presence of a quorum. For instance, if all 100 Senators vote, the winning margin is at least 51âone more than half the membership of the Senate. Under Senate precedents, "[a] tie vote on a question defeats it."
Some super-majority votes, however, are explicitly specified in the Constitution; implicitly, they also inhere in authority granted in Article I, Section 5, which says, "Each chamber may determine the Rules of Its Proceedings." Under this affirmative constitutional power, the Senate has imposed on itself a number of additional super-majority (sometimes called "extraordinary majority") requirements. Worth review, then, are the constitutional and Senate procedural-based exceptions to the general principle that Senators commonly decide issues by simple majority vote.
