How to read a Senate confirmation vote

When the Senate confirms a federal judge, the vote takes one of two forms: a recorded roll call, where each senator’s Yea or Nay is preserved, or a voice vote or unanimous consent, where no individual tally is kept.

The threshold

Confirmation takes a simple majority of the senators present and voting. Since 2013 for lower-court nominees, and 2017 for the Supreme Court, ending debate (called cloture) also takes a simple majority, so a unified majority can always reach a final vote. Before those changes, a 60-vote cloture threshold could hold a nominee back.

Reading the roll call

A recorded vote lists every senator as Yea, Nay, Present, or Not Voting, and the result (for example 53 to 47) is the count of yeas to nays. JudicialFinder shows the senator-by-senator roll call on a judge’s page wherever the Senate recorded one, and links each senator to their own record. The tightest of these are ranked in the closest confirmation votes.

A tie can happen: with 100 senators, a 50 to 50 split is broken by the Vice President, who as President of the Senate casts the deciding vote. That is why some confirmations show a 51 to 50 result.

When there is no roll call

Many confirmations, especially older ones, passed by voice vote or unanimous consent with no individual record. Where that is the case, the judge’s page says so plainly rather than inventing a tally. For the full path a nomination travels before any vote, see how federal judges are appointed.