H.R. 133: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 [Including Coronavirus Stimulus & Relief]
This was a vote to pass H.R. 133 (116th) in the Senate.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The bill passed overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support in the House through two roll call votes on Dec. 21, 2020. The first vote was on the portion of the bill for the appropriations for some federal departments including Commerce, Justice, Defense, Treasury, and Homeland Security, and some federal components including the White House and the District of Columbia. The second vote was on the remaining portion of the bill, which included appropriations for the remainder of the federal government as well as coronavirus stimulus and relief and many other miscellaneous provisions. It also passed the Senate overwhelmingly late that night.
According to our analysis, this bill is the fifth longest bill to be passed by Congress in the history of the country. Consequently, a more detailed summary is not easily possible. More details can be found in the House Rules Committee Joint Explanatory Statements.
This bill was originally introduced as the United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act. That text passed the House and Senate in late 2019 and early 2020 (but in non-identical forms). In December 2020, the text of the bill was replaced with the omnibus appropriations and coronavirus relief bill. The original United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act text was retained in Title XIX and passed along with the rest of the revised bill.
| All Votes | Republicans | Democrats | Independents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yea | 94% |
92
|
44
|
46
|
2
|
| Nay | 6% |
6
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
| Not Voting |
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
|
Motion Agreed to. 3/5 Required. Source: senate.gov.
The Yea votes represented 89% of the country’s population by apportioning each state’s population to its voting senators.
Seat position based on our ideology score.
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Vote Details
“Aye” and “Yea” mean the same thing, and so do “No” and “Nay”. Congress uses different words in different sorts of votes.
The U.S. Constitution says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). Congress takes this literally and uses “yea” and “nay” when voting on the final passage of bills.
All Senate votes use these words. But the House of Representatives uses “Aye” and “No” in other sorts of votes.
Statistically Notable Votes
Statistically notable votes are the votes that are most surprising, or least predictable, given how other members of each voter’s party voted and other factors.
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Study Guide
How well do you understand this vote? Use this study guide to find out.
You can find answers to most of the questions below here on the vote page. For a guide to understanding the bill this vote was about, see here.
What was the procedure for this vote?
- What was this vote on?
- What is the next step after this vote?
Not all votes are meant to pass legislation. In the Senate some votes are not about legislation at all, since the Senate must vote to confirm presidential nominations to certain federal positions.
This vote is related to a bill. However, that doesn’t necessarily tell you what it is about. Congress makes many decisions in the process of passing legislation, such as on the procedures for debating the bill, whether to change the bill before voting on passage, and even whether to vote on passage at all.
You can learn more about the various motions used in Congress at EveryCRSReport.com. If you aren’t sure what the Senate was voting on, try seeing if it’s on this list.
Take a look at where this bill is in the legislative process. What might come next? Keep in mind what this specific vote was on, and the context of the bill. Will there be amendments? Will the other chamber of Congress vote on it, or let it die?
For this question it may help to briefly examine the bill itself.
What is your analysis of this vote?
- What trends do you see in this vote?
- How did your senators vote?
- How much of the United States population is represented by the yeas?
Members of Congress side together for many reasons beside being in the same political party, especially so for less prominent legislation or legislation specific to a certain region. What might have determined how the roll call came out in this case? Does it look like Members of Congress voted based on party, geography, or some other reason?
There are two votes here that should be more important to you than all the others. These are the votes cast by your senators, which are meant to represent you and your community. Do you agree with how your senators voted? Why do you think they voted the way they did?
If you don’t already know who your Members of Congress are you can find them by entering your address here.
GovTrack displays the percentage of the United States population represented by the yeas on some Senate votes just under the vote totals. We do this to highlight how the people of the United States are represented in the Senate. Since each state has two senators, but state populations vary significantly, the individuals living in each state have different Senate representation. For example, California’s population of near 40 million is given the same number of senators as Wyoming’s population of about 600,000.
Do the senators who voted yea represent a majority of the people of the United States? Does it matter?
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