Higgins Strategy

From Study XVII, Exhibit 43

Seven of 16 landmark laws won under 57% in a chamber

Source. Senate.gov, House Clerk, Voteview, SSA, FHWA

Method and data

Method. Yes share = yea / (yea + nay) in the narrower of the two chambers on the last recorded vote before enactment. A Vice President’s tie-break is not counted. Where one chamber agreed by voice vote (1956 highway act, CARES Act), the recorded chamber stands in. The 1935 and 1970 shares use original passage votes, because the 1935 conference report was adopted by voice vote and the 1970 conference-report tally was not found.

LawHouse voteHouse yeasHouse naysSenate voteSenate yeasSenate naysNarrower chamberNarrower-chamber yes share (%)
Social Security 1935April 19, 193537233June 19, 1935776House91.9
Interstate Highways 1956June 26, 1956891Senate98.9
Civil Rights 1964July 2, 1964289126June 19, 19647327House69.6
Medicare 1965July 27, 1965307116July 28, 19657024House72.6
Clean Air 1970June 10, 19703751September 22, 1970730House99.7
Tax Reform 1986September 25, 1986292136September 27, 19867423House68.2
ADA 1990July 12, 199037728July 13, 1990916House93.1
Welfare reform 1996July 31, 1996328101August 1, 19967821House76.5
ACA 2010March 21, 2010219212December 24, 20096039House50.8
Dodd-Frank 2010June 30, 2010237192July 15, 20106039House55.2
Tax Cuts and Jobs 2017December 20, 2017224201December 20, 20175148Senate51.5
CARES 2020March 25, 2020960Senate100
Infrastructure 2021November 5, 2021228206August 10, 20216930House52.5
CHIPS and Science 2022July 28, 2022243187July 27, 20226433House56.5
Inflation Reduction 2022August 12, 2022220207August 7, 20225050Senate50
P.L. 119-21 (2025)July 3, 2025218214July 1, 20255050Senate50

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