purplehaze posted:irwin posted:On the question of calling witnesses or not....... What happens if there is a vote on calling witnesses, like Bolton, and the vote is 50-50? Does the Chief Justice break the tie?
According to current Senate rules, there is no provision for a tiebreaker. A tie is counted as a "no" vote. There is a precedent for the Chief Justice to cast tie breaking votes. The only time it occurred was in Andrew Johnson's impeachment. The more I read about that impeachment, the more I shake my head. There was a lot of sleazy stuff going on. Imagine that.
PH
The Chief Justice would actually cast a vote? That is, frankly, shocking to me.
I'm no expert, but I always thought that the process for breaking a tie in the senate was for the VP to cast a vote. Given that he or she has a vested interest in the outcome of the trial though, I could see why that wouldn't happen during impeachment.