As the disputed 2008 election headed for the courts, Senate Democrats were still two votes shy of a filibuster-proof 60-vote “supermajority.” The late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter changed that in early 2009 by switching parties, becoming a Democrat. That gave the Democrats control of 59 votes, and sharpened the stakes in Minnesota’s protracted recount.
Franken’s final victory in July 2009 made it 60. But a month later, the health care bill’s most ardent champion, Massachusetts’ Ted Kennedy, died.
Kennedy’s temporarily appointed replacement, Paul Kirk, could just as easily be considered the “60th vote.” Or, just as plausibly, it was Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, who held out until the controversial “public option” was jettisoned. Or perhaps more famously, the distinction could go to conservative Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, who held out for a Medicaid provision widely derided as the “Cornhusker Kickback.”
Whoever takes the credit or the blame, the Senate approved the law in December 2009 on a vote of 60-39, the minimum necessary to avoid a GOP filibuster.
But the drama was far from over. In January 2010, Massachusetts voters elected Republican Scott Brown to fill Kennedy’s seat. Suddenly, there was no more 60th vote.
Established in 1995,
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