What are supermajority votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and when are they required for a bill to pass?
A brief history and explanation of supermajority votes in the United States Government and beyond.
Every Wednesday, I am going to make a post talking about various aspects of government, including Congress, the Office of the President, the Judicial Branch, and more.
This week, we are talking about supermajorities. This word is thrown around a lot lately, usually in reference to one political party’s overwhelming majority in one or both Chambers of a Federal or State Legislature. However, today we are talking about the supermajority vote, or a vote that requires a “supermajority” of votes in a Chamber of Congress.
A supermajority is, according to Wikipedia, “a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support of which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority”[1] In other words, where most items being considered and passed through the Chambers of Congress need a simple majority to pass (meaning more than one half of the total votes), certain circumstances call for a supermajority, which means a greater threshold, usually two-thirds, of the total votes in a Chamber.
Supermajorities have been a thing since ancient times, with evidence suggesting their use in the Roman Republic and medieval Europe [1]. In the United States, supermajority votes have been present since the Articles of the Confederation; in their 18th century text the Federalist Papers, both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wrote that while supermajorities could prevent rushed legislation from being passed, they could also allow a minority to block beneficial bills [1,2]. As Madison wrote in Federalist 58, supermajorities could be “a shield to some particular interests, and another obstacle generally to hasty and partial measures”[2]. Their observations have been proven true, for better or for worse, many times since the Federalist Papers, but that is for another post.
So, how does a supermajority look in our current goverment, and when are they required? According to the Congressional Research Service, the constitution requires supermajory votes in the following instances:
Overriding Presidential vetoes. Both Chambers of Congress would need a 2/3 vote to do this, though if this happened, the bill would become law even without the President’s signature [4]
Removing Federal officers through impeachment proceedings with conviction by two-thirds of the Senate [4]
Ratifying treaties, by two-thirds vote in the Senate [4]
Expelling members from the House or Senate [4]
Proposing Constitutional Amendments [4]
With this in mind, each Chamber has its own rules and precedents surrounding supermajority votes.
The Senate:
In the United States Senate, supermajority votes can take the form of a two-thirds or three-fifths vote requirment and, per Senate rules and precedent, are needed in the following circumstances:
Invoke Cloture: this is another way of saying that a debate on something has ended, such as a bill, nomination, or measure. From there a vote will take place on whatever is being considered, generally only requiring a simple majority, or more than half, to pass. That said, there are still 30 hours of post-cloture debate available if approved by a three-fifths vote in the Senate. [4]
To Suspend the Rules: A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required to suspend the standing rules. [4]
Postpone Treaty Consideration Indefinitely: Per Senate Rule XXX, a notion to suspend indefinitely the consideration of a treaty needs a two-thirds vote in the Senate Chamber. [4]
Make a Bill a Special Order: according to the Congressional Research Service, this is an older precedent that is nonetheless still listed on the current compilation of Senate precedents. The precedent holds that a two-thirds vote in the Senate is required to make a bill a “special order,” or one that must be considered with urgency as a “special order of business.” Apparently this is seldom used. [4]
Waive the Congressional Budget Act of 1974: the Congressional Budget Act was enacted to, per CAP20, “dramatically curtail the power of the president to withhold federal funds once Congress has appropriated them. It improved the availability of information to inform decision-making and established an annual process for developing and approving the federal budget.” The current Senate rule states that if a “valid point of order is raised under the Budget Act,” a three-fifths vote is required to “set aside budget proceedings” to consider it. [3,4]
The House:
In the House of Representatives, supermajority votes can be either a two-thirds vote or a three-fifths vote. Per House rules, they are required in the following circumstances:
Rule XV, Clause 1: requires a two-thirds vote to suspend the rules of the House [5]. Put simply, when the House suspends the rules to pass a measure, it is passing it without having to jump through the traditional hoops of bringing a bill to the House floor. Because of this, and because the suspension requires a supermajority, it usually happens when the House seeks to pass bi-partisan, less controversial legislation. [7] Suspending the rules was unsuccessfully attempted last week when HR 9495, or the “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act,” failed to pass the House due to not meeting a two-thirds threshold. [6]
Rule XV, Clause 5: requires a two-thirds vote to “dispense with the call of the Private Calendar on the first Tuesday of the month” [5]. The House Private Calendar deals with legislation that pertains to certain entities or individuals, such as waiving immigration requirements, “entity specific” claims against the government, etc. The Private Calendar is held on the first and third Tuesday of every month, and this rule requires a two-thirds vote to alter this [9].
Rule XIII, Clause 6(a): requires a two-thirds vote to “consider a special rule on the same day that the Rules Committee reports it. This rule does not apply during the final three days of a session” [5]. A “special rule” essentially dictates what amendments can be brought forward in regard to legislation being considered, such as an “open rule,” meaning any amendments can be brought forward, a “structured rule,” meaning only specified amendments can be brought forward under structered debate time, and a “closed rule,” meaning no amendments can be brought forward, other than those “reported by the Committee Reporting the Bill” [8]. Because amendments, including a “floor amendment,” or an amendment brought forth on the House Floor, can heavily affect the eventualities of a bill, a supermajority is needed.
Rule XXI, Clause 5(b): requires a vote of not less than three-fifths of Members voting to approve legislation that increases Federal tax income rates. This was actually eliminated from the House Rules during the 116th Congress (2019-2020), but was reestablished during this current Congress (118th) through House Resolution 5. [5]
Interestingly, the House allows for these rules to be changed by just a simple majority, so any or all of these rules could be, by a simple majority vote, theoretically eliminated from the official House Rules. This most recently occurred with Rule XXI, Clause 5(b), as stated above.
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Works Cited:
1.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermajority
2.) https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-04-02-0207
3.) https://www.americanprogress.org/article/reflections-congressional-budget-act/
4.) Oleszek, Walter J. Congressional Research Service Report: Supermajority Votes in the Senate, 2008.
5.) Hudiberg, Jane A. Congressional Research Service Report: Supermajority Votes in the House, 2023.
6.) https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/5
7.) Hudiberg, Jane A. Suspension of the Rules: House Practice in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), 2022.
8.) https://rules.house.gov/about/special-rule-types
9.) https://www.legislativeprocedure.com/blog/2018/9/7/the-house-calendar-explained