Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, a conservative firebrand known for his strong support of defense spending and his denial that human activity is responsible for the bulk of climate change, has died. He was 89.

Inhofe, a powerful fixture in Oklahoma politics for over six decades, died Tuesday morning after he had a stroke over the July Fourth holiday, his family said in a statement.

Inhofe, who was elected to a fifth Senate term in 2020, stepped down in early 2023.

  • figaro@lemdro.id
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    4 months ago

    How does voting work when this happens? Like, let’s say R’s control the Senate 51-50, but this guy suddenly dies. Is the Senate now split on votes?

    • keckbug@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      As OP mentioned, it’s not relevant since he retired, but the seat becomes vacant for a period, meaning one fewer member votes, and results may be affected. There’s generally some mechanism for filling the vacant seat, which can vary on timing (and state law). Generally a replacement can be appointed by the state governor, special elections are held if there is still a substantial term remaining, or the position is held by the appointee if an election is already imminent.

    • mercano@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      It wouldn’t actually be a 51-50 split. What happens is the senators vote, and if there’s a tie, the Vice President (aka the President of the Senate) is asked to break the deadlock. If it was a 50-50 split, and one of the senators dies, it’s now a 50-49 split, and the VP is no longer asked to break ties.

    • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
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      4 months ago

      There is no such thing as controlling the Senate 51-50. There are 100 senators and if there are only 99 voting (e.g. because one of them died), then if there was previously a 50-50 party split, party-line votes will now have 50-49 results, i.e. not a tie, i.e. the Vice President will not be asked to break a tie.