View source for Vote-a-rama

{{Short description|U.S. Congress legislative procedure}}
A '''"vote-a-rama"''' (or '''"vote-arama",''' '''"vote-athon"''')<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Lynch|first=Megan Suzanne|date=June 23, 2009|title=Congressional Budget Resolutions: Consideration and Amending in the Senate|url=https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/569e5f54-06e3-4568-9fa2-f74f39bf75e0.pdf|url-status=dead|website=[[Congressional Research Service]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428120347/https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/569e5f54-06e3-4568-9fa2-f74f39bf75e0.pdf|archive-date=April 28, 2017}}</ref> is a [[procedures of the United States Congress|procedure in the United States Senate]] that allows senators to propose an unlimited number of [[Amend (motion)|amendments]] to budget-related measures. After brief debate, the amendments are each voted on in rapid succession.
Vote-a-ramas have been a fixture of [[United States Senate|Senate]] [[United States budget process|budget]] and [[Reconciliation (United States Congress)|reconciliation]] bills since the 1990s. They are primarily a political messaging tool, as they allow individual senators to force votes on divisive or controversial amendments that would not ordinarily be allowed by the [[Senate majority leader|majority leader]].
== History ==
In the [[United States Senate]], vote-a-ramas have been a feature of the consideration of [[Budget resolution|budget resolutions]] and [[Reconciliation (United States Congress)|reconciliation bills]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Straus|first1=Jacob R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgdQDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA226|title=Party and procedure in the United States Congress|last2=Glassman|first2=Matthew|date=2017|isbn=978-1-4422-5872-3|location=Lanham, Maryland|pages=226|oclc=942838616}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Corning|first=Trevor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldOACwAAQBAJ&pg=PA226|title=Inside Congress: a guide for navigating the politics of the House and Senate floors|date=2017|others=Reema Dodin, Kyle W. Nevins|isbn=978-0-8157-2735-4|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=93|oclc=965781626}}</ref> since the 1980s,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Steven S.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/874831106|title=The Senate Syndrome: the evolution of procedural warfare in the modern U.S. Senate|date=2014|isbn=978-0-8061-4593-8|location=Norman|pages=193–196|oclc=874831106}}</ref> and they became a fixture since conflict between the political parties intensified in the mid-1990s.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Gold|first=Martin|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/220859622|title=Senate procedure and practice|date=2008|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-7425-6304-9|edition=2nd|location=Lanham|pages=152–153|oclc=220859622}}</ref> The term "vote-a-rama" appears to have been coined by Senator [[Trent Lott]], then the Republican majority [[Whip (politics)#United States|whip]], in 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Estepa|first=Jessica|date=27 July 2017|title=Vote-a-rama: Here's what to know about the Senate practice|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/07/27/vote-a-rama-senate-health-care-bill/515819001/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}</ref>
The practice of vote-a-rama developed by custom through agreements between party leaders to accelerate voting on amendments after the 50 hours for debate<ref>[https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/636 2 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)]: "Debate in the Senate on any concurrent resolution on the budget, and all amendments thereto and debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 50 hours".</ref> allotted by the [[Congressional Budget Act of 1974|1974 Budget Act]] expire.<ref name=":0" /> The rules for Senate vote-a-ramas in their current form were first agreed upon in 1993 when the statutory time expired on the fifth day of the budget resolution's consideration.<ref name=":0" /> Since then, each vote-a-rama including the amendments to be voted on has been regulated by [[unanimous consent]] agreements negotiated between party leaders.<ref name=":0" />
== Procedure ==
Vote-a-ramas are possible because the Budget Act limits the time for debate but not the "consideration" of all budget measures, which means that every amendment is voted on.<ref name=":3" /> Nonetheless, amendments are disallowed if they are not germane to the bill (i.e. do not pertain to its subject matter) or violate the [[Byrd Rule]].<ref name=":3" />
In the Senate, for each amendment, its [[Sponsor (legislative)|sponsor]] and a designated opponent each normally have thirty seconds<ref name=":1" /> or one minute<ref name=":0" /> of speaking time to make their case. Thereafter, a ten-minute [[Roll call (vote)|roll call]] vote takes place.<ref name=":1" /> The process continues until [[cloture]] occurs,<ref name=":4" /> which requires a 60-vote supermajority, or until no more senators wish to propose amendments, which can take a considerable time.<ref name=":2" /> For example, in the 2013 budget process, it took the Senate almost 16 hours to vote on 43 amendments.<ref name=":1" /> In the reconciliation process, the vote-a-rama is preceded by 24 hours of debate on the reconciliation bill<ref name=":2" /> and followed by the final vote.
== Purpose ==
The purpose of most amendments in vote-a-ramas is not to make or change law but to be a part of the political messaging of the respective senator or party.<ref name=":1" /> This applies especially in the case of budget resolutions, because many of their provisions are not legally binding and are therefore a sort of suggestion to the executive branch<ref name=":1" /> or an instruction to the respective Congressional committee.<ref name=":2" /> Vote-a-ramas are attractive for this purpose because it is otherwise often difficult and cumbersome for an individual senator to obtain a floor vote on a proposal.<ref name=":2" />
Amendments in vote-a-ramas can be a way to test support for a particular issue.<ref name=":2" /> They can also be used to signal support for an issue popular with the sponsor's political base, or parties may use them to try to force the other party's members to take a position that is unpopular or divisive in their party or constituency, so that their vote can later be used against them in political campaigning.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Russonello|first=Giovanni|date=March 5, 2021|title=What's in a Vote-a-Rama?|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/us/politics/vote-a-rama.html|access-date=2021-08-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Apart from that, vote-a-ramas are also an important vehicle for the minority party to ensure that their amendments receive a vote. That is because in the normal course of business the majority can often prevent a vote on amendments offered by the minority by procedural maneuvers such as "[[Filling the tree|filling the amendment tree]]."<ref name=":4" />
== Statistics ==
The Senate website lists 61 vote-a-ramas that have occurred since 1977, defined as "legislation the Senate voted on 15 or more times in one day". The one with the most roll call votes (44) was the [[budget resolution]] of March 13, 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Senate: "Vote-aramas" (1977 to Present)|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/Votearama1977present.htm|access-date=2021-08-13|website=www.senate.gov}}</ref> The [[Congressional Research Service]] notes that in the Senate, "between 1993 and 2009, an average of 78 amendments to the budget resolution were offered per year during floor consideration, with an average of 26 (33%) of those being debated and disposed of before the expiration of time", and the remainder being disposed of in the vote-a-rama.<ref name=":0" />
== References ==
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[[Category:Parliamentary procedure]]
[[Category:Legislative branch of the United States government]]