E.O. 13166 vote switchers (May 2006) or why there are two vote counts for the Inhofe amendment

There are two different vote counts for the Inhofe amendment, 63 to 34 or 62 to 35. This is because Senator Mary Landrieu officially switched her May 18th vote on May 25th.

On May 18, 2007, Senator Mary Landrieu (D, Louisiana) voted for the Inhofe amendment to the immigration bill (S.2611).

The Inhofe amendment would repeal Clinton Executive Order 13166. E.O. 13166 requires all recipients of federal funds to function in any language anyone speaks at any time.

The original roll call Senate vote 131) on the Inhofe amendment is here.

On May 18, 2006, Landrieu also voted for the Salazar amendment to protect E.O. 13166.

The roll call vote (Senate vote 132) on the Salzar amendment is here.

On May 25, 2006, Landrieu officially changed her vote on the Inhofe amendment from yea to nay.

Congressional Record, May 25, 2006 [Page S5190]:

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.

Change of Vote

Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, on rollcall vote No. 131, I voted yea. It was my intention to vote nay. Given this does not change the outcome of the vote, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to change my vote. This will in no way change the outcome of the vote.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

These events explain why web sites which use vote lists produced by third parties taken from the actual day of the vote, such as English First, will show Landrieu voting "aye" on the Inhofe amendment and show the final tally as 63 to 34, while the Senate's official website now shows Landrieu as voting "nay" and records the vote as 62 to 35.

Landreiu was not the only vote switcher in the Senate that day, but she was the only switcher to wait a week to formally change her position.

A comparison of the votes on May 18th on the two amendments reveals 23 other vote switchers, including two cosponsors of the Inhofe amendment who also voted for Salazar.

On May 18, 2006, 12 Republicans switched their position on E.O. 13166 by voting for Salazar's pro-E.O. 13166 English amendment after voting for Inhofe's anti-E.O. 13166 amendment that same day: Brownback (KS), Chafee (RI), Coleman (MN), DeWine (OH), Graham (SC), Hagel (NE), McCain (AZ), Murkowski (R-AK), Snowe (ME), Specter (PA), Voinovich (OH) and Warner (VA).

On May 18, 2006, 11 Democrats switched their position on E.O. 13166 by voting for Salazar's pro-E.O. 13166 English amendment after voting for Inhofe's anti-E.O. 13166 amendment that same day: Baucus (MT), Byrd (WV) [a official cosponsor of the Inhofe amendment!], Carper (DE), Conrad (ND), Dorgan (ND), T. Johnson (SD), Landrieu (LA), Lincoln (AR), Nelson (NE), Nelson (FL), and Pryor (AR).

Cosponsors of the 2006 Inhofe anti-E.O. 13166 amendment (S.A. 4064): Alexander, Byrd*, Bunning, Burns, Chambliss, Coburn, Enzi, Frist, Graham*, Kyl and Sessions.

An asterisk (*) indicates that an Inhofe amendment cosponsor also voted for the Salazar amendment.

Cosponsors of the 2006 Salazar pro-E.O. 13166 amendment (S.A. 4073): Bingaman, Durbin, Kennedy, and Reid (officially). A hard copy of the Salazar amendment from that day lists these four Senators plus Graham.