How many tie-breaking Senate votes has Dick Cheney cast?

[Joe Republic]

Yes, this is possibly the wrong forum for this question, but never mind.

I was just wondering exactly how many votes Dick Cheney, as President of the Senate, has cast to break ties?  If possible, what were the votes actually on?

And while I'm on the subject, what happens if there's no sitting Vice President available to break ties?  Presumably the motions would simply fail?

[DownWithTheLeft]

I have a similar question to ask (a very realistic scenario).  The Senate is 51-49 Democrat yet Sen. Johnson is still recovering and unable to vote.  It is a very tight vote Ben Nelson deflects to the Republican side and Arlen Specter deflects to the Dems.  This leaves the vote 50-49, can Cheney vote to tie it and therefore it fails?

[Dr. Cynic]

I have a similar question to ask (a very realistic scenario).  The Senate is 51-49 Democrat yet Sen. Johnson is still recovering and unable to vote.  It is a very tight vote Ben Nelson deflects to the Republican side and Arlen Specter deflects to the Dems.  This leaves the vote 50-49, can Cheney vote to tie it and therefore it fails?

Just a tad unfamiliar with Senate procedure?... The only time a VP can cast a vote at all, is if the vote stands at 50-50.

[True Democrat]

From Wikipedia:

"As President of the Senate, he has cast seven tie-breaking votes to date, including deciding votes on concurring in the conference reports of the 2004 congressional budget and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003."

[Joe Republic]

From Wikipedia:

"As President of the Senate, he has cast seven tie-breaking votes to date, including deciding votes on concurring in the conference reports of the 2004 congressional budget and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003."

Great, thanks.

I was sort of expecting the number to be higher than seven.  Especially since for the first few months of his term, the Senate partisan composition was exactly 50-50.

[Beet]

From Wikipedia:

"As President of the Senate, he has cast seven tie-breaking votes to date, including deciding votes on concurring in the conference reports of the 2004 congressional budget and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003."

Great, thanks.

I was sort of expecting the number to be higher than seven.  Especially since for the first few months of his term, the Senate partisan composition was exactly 50-50.

Yeah, it's a little surprising. When you look through the legislative history, a very large percentage of bills in both the House and Senate were actually passed by overwhelming margins. The close votes are actually very rare.

[Gabu]

I have a similar question to ask (a very realistic scenario).  The Senate is 51-49 Democrat yet Sen. Johnson is still recovering and unable to vote.  It is a very tight vote Ben Nelson deflects to the Republican side and Arlen Specter deflects to the Dems.  This leaves the vote 50-49, can Cheney vote to tie it and therefore it fails?

The Vice President votes to break a tie, not to make a tie.  A vote of 50-49 means that the 50 senators win.