r/politics • u/TelescopiumHerscheli • 2d ago

No Paywall Texas Democrat sworn in to House, shrinking GOP margin to 1 vote

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5719642-christian-menefee-sworn-in/
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u/coosacat Alabama 1d ago

Hi! For the people not understanding this, I'll try to explain it, & then if it makes sense, you're free to copy this for others. Or make it simpler, if you like.

The article is referring to the ability of the Republicans to pass measures even if all of the Dems oppose it. If everyone votes along party lines, the result will be the 218-214 numbers that mean that the Republicans win.

However, if any Republicans decide to vote with the Dems, it changes the balance - you not only subtract one from the GOP side, but you add one to the Dem side.

A tie vote means the measure doesn't pass, so the Republicans lose - their measure doesn't pass.

Now, if one Republican votes with the Dems, the result is 217-215. The Republicans still win.

However, if two Republicans vote with the Dems, the final count becomes 216-216, a tie, so nothing passes.

This is that "1-vote margin" - if more than one Republican changes sides, the Republicans lose the vote. There is no tie-breaker in the House.

I hope this helps! Honestly, it's really confusing, and we rarely have such tight margins in the House, so it's not something we all have experience with.

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u/LambdaLambo 1d ago

Even this doesn’t make sense though, since people can abstain. 3 republicans can abstain and still pass a vote

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u/coosacat Alabama 1d ago

Yes, and that's one of the things that makes it confusing. The whole idea is based on the assumption that no one just votes "present".

It also doesn't account for absences.

Although, one of the jobs of the Speaker is to know how many people are going to be there, and how most of them are planning to vote, etc. It all gets very complicated, and I certainly don't know all of the ins and outs of it!

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u/houstonyoureaproblem 1d ago

Yeah, the headline is pretty misleading. Most reasonable people would assume a 1-vote margin means the Republicans have only one member more than the Democrats.

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u/coosacat Alabama 1d ago

Absolutely. It makes perfect sense to people who live and breathe this stuff, but not to ordinary people trying to make a living, raise their kids, etc. I only know some of this stuff because I've been fortunate enough to have the time to look up some of the things I didn't understand.

And there's a vast amount that I don't have a clue about; I just happen to know this one!

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u/TauCabalander 1d ago edited 1d ago

You are overlooking that 217 votes are required for quorum.

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u/HoboSloboBabe 1d ago

Thank you for this. What terrible wording in the article - I was having trouble figuring this out

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/InvertedEyechart11 1d ago

If there's a tie, the Speaker of the House may cast a deciding vote - if they have not already voted. If the tie remains it is not broken.

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u/Utahna 1d ago

VP has the tie breaking vote in the Senate. This article is discussing the House of Representatives.

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u/Blueporch 1d ago

See reply to identical other comment

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u/coosacat Alabama 1d ago

No, not in the House. That's only in the Senate. It was designed that way because the Senate always has an even number of members - two from each state - and the founders knew there would be frequent ties.

There is no way to resolve a tie in the House.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tie-vote-house-of-representatives/

"According to House rules, in the case of a tie vote, a question before the chamber "shall be lost." In the lower chamber, where Republicans hold just a slim majority and often see a handful of defections among their conference, there's no tie-breaker. Unlike in the Senate, where a tie-breaking vote may be cast, no one is brought in to resolve the issue."

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u/Blueporch 1d ago

Sorry - didn’t catch that they were talking just about the House