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On the Nomination PN139: David Schenker, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Near Eastern Affairs)

Jun 5, 2019 at 11:03 a.m. ET.

Totals

All Votes R D I
Yea 88%
 
 
 
83
51
 
31
 
1
 
Nay 12%
 
 
 
11
0
 
11
 
0
 
Not Voting
 
 
 
6
2
 
3
 
1
 

Nomination Confirmed. Simple Majority Required. Source: senate.gov.

The Yea votes represented 83% of the country’s population by apportioning each state’s population to its voting senators.

Ideology Vote Chart

Key:
Republican - Yea Democrat - Yea Democrat - Nay
Seat position based on our ideology score.

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Vote Details

Notes: *Senate Democratic Caucus Secretary/Senate Democratic Steering Committee Chair/Senate Democratic Policy & Communications Committee Chair’s Vote

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D), the Senate Democratic Caucus Secretary, voted Nay against her party.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D), the Senate Democratic Steering Committee Chair, voted Nay against her party.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D), the Senate Democratic Policy & Communications Committee Chair, voted Nay against her party.

Somtimes a party leader will vote on the winning side, even if it is against his or her position, to have the right to call for a new vote under a motion to reconsider. For more, see this explanation from The Washington Post.

We do not know the rationale behind any vote, however.

“Aye” or “Yea”?

“Aye” and “Yea” mean the same thing, and so do “No” and “Nay”. Congress uses different words in different sorts of votes.

The U.S. Constitution says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). Congress takes this literally and uses “yea” and “nay” when voting on the final passage of bills.

All Senate votes use these words. But the House of Representatives uses “Aye” and “No” in other sorts of votes.

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Statistically Notable Votes

Statistically notable votes are the votes that are most surprising, or least predictable, given how other members of each voter’s party voted and other factors.

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Study Guide

How well do you understand this vote? Use this study guide to find out.

You can find answers to most of the questions below here on the vote page.

What was the procedure for this vote?

  1. What was this vote on?

    2. Not all votes are meant to pass legislation. In the Senate some votes are not about legislation at all, since the Senate must vote to confirm presidential nominations to certain federal positions.

    This vote was on a nomination by the President. Use your favorite search engine to find more about who was nominated and what the position entails. What branch of government is the position in? What relevant experience does the nominee have?

    You can learn more about the various motions used in Congress at EveryCRSReport.com. If you aren’t sure what the Senate was voting on, try seeing if it’s on this list.

What is your analysis of this vote?

  1. What trends do you see in this vote?

    2. Members of Congress side together for many reasons beside being in the same political party, especially so for less prominent legislation or legislation specific to a certain region. What might have determined how the roll call came out in this case? Does it look like Members of Congress voted based on party, geography, or some other reason?

  2. How did your senators vote?

    3. There are two votes here that should be more important to you than all the others. These are the votes cast by your senators, which are meant to represent you and your community. Do you agree with how your senators voted? Why do you think they voted the way they did?

    If you don’t already know who your Members of Congress are you can find them by entering your address here.

  3. How much of the United States population is represented by the yeas?

    4. GovTrack displays the percentage of the United States population represented by the yeas on some Senate votes just under the vote totals. We do this to highlight how the people of the United States are represented in the Senate. Since each state has two senators, but state populations vary significantly, the individuals living in each state have different Senate representation. For example, California’s population of near 40 million is given the same number of senators as Wyoming’s population of about 600,000.

    Do the senators who voted yea represent a majority of the people of the United States? Does it matter?

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