On July 1, 2025, Vice President J.D. Vance cast his fifth tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate to pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the budget reconciliation bill currently before Congress. Fifty Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 45 Democrats, two Independents who caucus with Democrats, and Republican Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against the bill.
Vance also cast two tie-breaking votes to approve two perfecting amendments to the reconciliation bill, which are typically a type of amendment that makes a small modification to either the bill text or the text of a passed amendment. These tie-breaking votes brought Vance’s total to five tie-breaking votes over the course of his vice presidency. He cast his first tie-breaking vote in January to confirm Pete Hegseth as U.S. secretary of defense, and cast his second tie-breaking vote in April to table a joint resolution to terminate the national emergency related to global tariffs.
At this point during Trump’s first term, former Vice President Mike Pence (R) had cast three tie-breaking votes. At this point during Biden’s term in office, former Vice President Kamala Harris (D) had cast six tie-breaking votes. Vance has cast the third-fewest tie-breaking votes among vice presidents who have served since 1981.
By the end of her four-year tenure, Harris cast the most tie-breaking votes of any vice president in U.S. history at 33. The second-most tie-breaking votes were cast by John C. Calhoun (31) from 1825 to 1832, and the third-most were cast by John Adams (29) from 1789 to 1797.
As of July 1, 2025, a total of 306 tie-breaking votes have been cast by 38 vice presidents. The first-ever tie-breaking vote was cast by Adams on July 18, 1789.
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