Let's Remake the Vice Presidency

 Everyone likes to knock the position of Vice President in the American governmental system. They have two basic powers: they replace the president under certain circumstances, and they can preside over the Senate, but can vote only to break a tie.

In perusing the Federalist papers, it seems that it was considered all-important that the VP be elected in the same manner as the president, in case he would be required to stand in for the president. In fact, that makes sense as a goal (but note that in a worst-case scenario, further presidential succession would violate it).

Furthermore, since the Senate would have so few members in the 1790s, the specter of gridlock due to tie votes was very real. So having a president of the Senate who could vote only to break ties, but not to create a tie, was a way to avoid them altogether (unless the VP declined to vote, of course).

They did not think it at all important that the VP should have a genuine voice in the Senate, or to have any actual job to do on an everyday basis. The experience of the first VP, John Adams, established the futility of a VP attempting to participate fully in the senatorial legislative process. As he put it, the Vice Presidency was “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived”.

Now, with two and a half centuries of hindsight, I think we could do much better (although I am perfectly aware that since so many Americans consider the constitution to be holy writ and replacing it as rank heresy, making major changes such as I will suggest are extremely improbable).

If we were redoing the constitution, there are many even more fundamental changes that have more urgency than fixing the presidency of the Senate, but in this post I consider only that one.

Original version:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.  The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

New version:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, and shall have one vote on all matters. The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. In the event the Senate be equally divided, the President of the Senate (or the President pro tempore) may cast a second vote.

This is a rather small change to the text, yet it would vastly improve the lot of vice presidents, since they would be active members, rather than largely passive nonmembers of the Senate over which they preside.  In fact, they would be the Senate's most powerful member.  Furthermore, this change would retain the ability to break ties in the Senate, thereby neatly avoiding that particular type of gridlock.

One issue that this change would address is that of determining whether the VP is in the Executive Branch or the Legislative Branch. Under the original constitution, this is vague, since neither the executive or the legislative function is exercised often. Under the revision, the VP would be a full member of the Senate, just as much as any ordinary senator, only rarely standing in for the president. Therefore, the position would be more legislative than executive. Also, presidential elections would surely begin to focus almost as much on the VP as on the president, since the VP would be much more powerful. The election would be about choosing two rather than one president.

Probably the most controversial new vice-presidential power would be that of casting a second, tie-breaking vote. If the ability to avoid gridlock by casting an additional vote is to be maintained, then we have to decide, who will cast that vote? There is no one more obviously suited for this than the VP, since although each of the other senators represent a single state, the VP, like the president, represents every state.

I had originally favored empowering the president to break ties. This would have avoided giving the same individual two votes. However, requiring active presidential participation in the Senate could create time and attention demands that could interfere in a potentially dangerous way with the presidency. The VP would already be a participant, and the power to break ties is a natural extension of the position of President of the Senate.