On Agreeing to the Amendment: Amendment 2 to H R 3293

Number:
House Vote #642 [primary source: house.gov]
Date:
Jul 24, 2009 (111th Congress)
Result:
Failed
Bill:
H.R. 3293 (111th): Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2010
Introduced by Rep. David “Dave” Obey [D-WI7, 1969-2010] on July 22, 2009
Current Status: Passed House

This was a vote to approve or reject an amendment.

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Totals     Democrat     Republican
  Aye 211
 
 
48%
45 166
  No 218
 
 
50%
212 6
Not Voting 10
 
 
2%
3 7
Required: Simple Majority

Vote Details

Notes

Where is the Speaker’s vote?

According to current House rules, the Speaker of the House is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings, except when such vote would be decisive.” In practice, this means the Speaker of the House rarely votes and only does so when it is politically useful. When the Speaker declines to vote, he or she is simply omitted from the roll call by the House Clerk.

What’s the difference between aye and yea?

There is no meaningful difference between aye and yea (and nay and no), but the terms are used in different sorts of votes based on Congress’s long tradition of parliamentary procedure. The House and Senate follow the U.S. Constitution strictly when it says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). The House sometimes operates under a special set of rules called the “Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union” (or “Committee of the Whole” for short), which is a sort of pseudo-committee that is made up of every congressman. During this mode of operation, the House uses the terms “aye” and “no” instead. (See the Rules of the House, Rule XX, and House Practice in the section Voting.)