[{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_veuEhhb1658wti0_ZAig66JOyixENU-N9zhjLQSLfOQ.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=heritage_theme\u0026include=eJwrTi1LzdNPzkksLq7Uy8tPSQUAPMsGtA"}]},{"command":"invoke","selector":null,"method":"openEssay","args":["10000014","\n\n\u003Carticle about=\u0022\/constitution\/articles\/1\/essays\/15\/vice-president-as-presiding-officer\u0022 class=\u0022node node--type-constitution-essay node--promoted node--view-mode-embedded clearfix\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Ch1 class=\u0022title\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EVice President as Presiding Officer\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003C\/h1\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-location\u0022\u003E\n      Article I, Section 3, Clause 4\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-context\u0022\u003E\n      \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-body\u0022\u003E\n    \n            \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe only regular responsibility that the Constitutional Convention assigned to the office of the Vice President (other than the duty to receive the tally of electoral votes for President) was to preside over the Senate and to cast tie-breaking votes. Because this role seemed to give the Vice President some legislative responsibility, George Mason argued during the Convention that this was a violation of the separation of powers, that \u201cit mixed too much\u201d the executive and legislative powers. But Roger Sherman responded: \u201cIf the Vice President were not to be President of the Senate, he would be without employment.\u201d The Anti-Federalists echoed Mason\u2019s concern, that the Vice President would be an agent of executive subversion of the legislature. John Adams intentionally signed Senate documents as \u201cJohn Adams, Vice President.\u201d The Anti-Federalist William Maclay responded, \u201cSir, we know you not as Vice President within this House. As President of the Senate only do we know you, as President of the Senate only can you sign or authenticate any Act of that Body.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAllowing the Vice President to preside over the Senate, and to vote in case of a tie, solved two important problems. First, it allowed that body\u2014at all times\u2014to come to a definitive resolution, because the President of the Senate would break tie votes. Second, it preserved the equality of the states in the Senate. As Justice Joseph Story noted in his \u003Ci\u003ECommentaries on the\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ci\u003EConstitution of the United States \u003C\/i\u003E(1833), should\u003Ci\u003E \u003C\/i\u003Ea Senator have been chosen to preside over the body, and should that Senator cast the tie-breaking vote, a state would, in effect, increase its representation.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAlternatively, if the Senator as presiding President would be allowed to vote only in case of a tie, a state would end up losing half its representation during normal votes. \u003Ci\u003EThe Federalist\u003C\/i\u003E No. 68. There have been over two hundred occasions when the Vice President has had to cast a tie-breaking vote, but most occurred early in the history of the Republic. In fact, the first Vice President, John Adams, cast the highest number of such votes, twenty-nine in all, including the Decision of 1789, confirming the President\u2019s authority to remove executive officers.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EEarly in the Republic the Vice President took seriously his constitutional duty of presiding over the Senate, and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson did much to shape the presider\u2019s role. Rarely, however, does the Vice President sit in modern times. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate is the formal substitute, but normally a junior Member of the Senate is assigned to sit in the chair. The ambiguity in the constitutional position of the Vice President has led to a debate among commentators as to whether to site the office in the legislative or executive branches. The consensus among the Framers seems to have been that his constitutional duties lay in the legislative branch unless and until he succeeded to the Presidency. Significantly, the Vice President\u2019s salary, his expenses, and his staff are still paid for out of the Senate\u2019s budget. Nonetheless, under the broad discretion that the Constitution leaves to each branch to develop its own structure, the political influence of Vice Presidents in the executive branch has increased as modern Presidents have delegated many functions to their Vice Presidents.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n      \n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--media\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--photo\u0022 style=\u0022background-image: url(\/sites\/default\/files\/Peter_Schramm.jpg)\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--info\u0022\u003E\n              \u003Ch4 class=\u0022con-essay-author--name\u0022\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ashbrook.org\/columns\/schramm\/\u0022\u003EPeter W. Schramm\u003C\/a\u003E\n                  \u003C\/h4\u003E\n                  \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-author--job\u0022\u003E\n         Senior Fellow, John M. Ashbrook Center\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n            \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n\n    \u003Cdiv class=\u0022con-essay-tabs\u0022\u003E\n      \u003Cul data-tabs class=\u0022tabs\u0022\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000014-taba\u0022\u003EFurther Reading\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000014-tabb\u0022\u003ECase Law\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n        \u003Cli class=\u0022button-more thirds\u0022\u003E\u003Ca data-tab href=\u0022#node-10000014-tabc\u0022\u003ERelated Essays\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\n      \u003C\/ul\u003E\n\n      \u003Cdiv data-tabs-content\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000014-taba\u0022\u003E\n          \n      \u003Cdiv\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022margin-left:16px; text-align:justify; text-indent:-11.95pt\u0022\u003ERichard Albert, \u003Ci\u003EThe Evolving Vice Presidency\u003C\/i\u003E, 78 Temp. L. Rev. 811, 813 (2005)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022margin-left:16px; text-align:justify; text-indent:-11.95pt\u0022\u003EDavid P. Currie, \u003Ci\u003EThe Constitution in Congress: The\u003C\/i\u003E \u003Ci\u003EFirst Congress and the Structure of Government, 1789\u20131791\u003C\/i\u003E, 2 U. Chi. L. Sch. Roundtable 161 (1995)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMark O. Hatfield, Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789\u20131993 (1997)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPaul C. Light, Vice Presidential Power: Advice and Influence in the White House (1984)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EL. Edward Purcell, The Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary (1998)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n              \u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp style=\u0022margin-left:16px; text-align:justify; text-indent:-11.95pt\u0022\u003EGlenn Harlan Reynolds, \u003Ci\u003EIs Dick Cheney Unconstitutional?\u003C\/i\u003E, 102 Nw. U.L. Rev. 1539 (2008)\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n          \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000014-tabb\u0022\u003E\n          \n        \u003C\/div\u003E\n        \u003Cdiv data-tabs-pane class=\u0022tabs-pane\u0022 id=\u0022node-10000014-tabc\u0022\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000079\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EElectoral College\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000082\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EPresidential Succession\u003C\/a\u003E\n                      \u003Ca href=\u0022\/essay_controller\/10000183\u0022 class=\u0022use-ajax\u0022\u003EPresidential Term Limit\u003C\/a\u003E\n                  \u003C\/div\u003E\n      \u003C\/div\u003E\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \n\u003C\/article\u003E\n"]}]