How to Break a Tie in Congress

Congressional ties only occur in the Senate.

The United States Congress is comprised of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The number of representatives a state has is contingent upon the population of the state; the more people in the state, the more congressmen. There are two senators per state, regardless of population, which means there are 100 senators in Congress. In total, Congress is composed of 541 lawmakers -- 435 state representatives, 100 senators, 5 nonvoting delegates from U.S. territories and one vote for the Vice President.

Things You'll Need

• Senate
• Congress
• Vice president
• Senate majority leader

Instructions

1. Bring a bill to the floor of the Senate. A bill, once passed by the House of Representatives, is brought to the Senate for further review. Senators will stand and give speeches in favor or against the proposed law. A roll-call vote is then taken in which senators cast their vote for or against the bill.

2. Vote on a law in the Senate house. If the vote is exactly divided between the 100 senators, with an even number of senators on either side, then there is a congressional tie. It doesn't have to be 50-50 because senators are allowed to abstain from voting for any number of reasons, be it disagreement about certain components of the law or because of absence from the Senate chambers.

3. Call in the vice president, who is known as the president of the Senate. The vice president has the ability to break a tie within the senate. If the vice president cannot attend the proceedings, then the Senate majority leader will cast an additional vote to break the tie.

References

• House and Senate Rules of Procedure