What happens when senators die or are incapacitated?
National policies, and even the course of history, changes as a result.
This article is written by Nicholas Napolio and Christian Grose.
What happens if U.S. senators get sick or, even worse, if they die?
It’s happened before — and our research published in the American Political Science Review shows that national policies, and even the course of history, can change as a result.
In the 118th Congress (2023–24), the Democrats control the U.S. Senate with 51 senators caucusing with the Democratic party and 49 senators caucusing with the Republican party. During this session in 2023, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) all missed votes for about a month due to health problems.
In 2021 and 2022, The Democrats and Republicans each had 50 seats with Vice President Kamala Harris often casting tie-breaking votes on the floor to move judicial nominees and public policies forward.
Vice President Kamala Harris has the record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice…
