<Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided . </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> "</Td> <Td> The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided . </Td> <Td>" </Td> </Tr> <P> According to the U.S. Senate, as of March 30, 2017, the tie - breaking vote (or casting vote) had been made 258 times by 36 different Vice Presidents . </P> <P> The first President of the Senate, John Adams, cast 29 tie - breaking votes . His votes protected the president's sole authority over the removal of appointees, influenced the location of the national capital, and prevented war with Great Britain . On at least one occasion he persuaded senators to vote against legislation that he opposed, and he frequently lectured the Senate on procedural and policy matters . Adams's political views and his active role in the Senate made him a natural target for critics of the Washington administration . Toward the end of his first term, as a result of a threatened resolution that would have silenced him except for procedural and policy matters, he began to exercise more restraint in the hope of realizing the goal shared by many of his successors: election in his own right as President of the United States . </P>

Who casts the deciding vote in the senate
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