Number: 98-779
Title: Super-Majority Votes in the Senate
Authors: Walter J. Oleszek, Government and Finance Division 
Abstract: The Senate has long been known for its emphasis on minority rights, for it provides extensive procedural protections to individuals and minority coalitions. Yet most questions are decided by vote of a simple majority. Some super-majority votes, however, are explicitly specified in the Constitution; implicitly, they also inhere in authority granted in Article I, section 5, which says, "Each chamber may determine the Rules of Its Proceedings."
Pages: 2
Date: May 19, 2008