Strategic Retreat? Republican Senator Thom Tillis Temporarily Switched Vote to Oppose CLARITY — There's More to the Story

Odaily: In this morning's procedural vote on the CLARITY Act, Republican Senator Thom Tillis initially voted YES, but after the situation became clear and the Cloture Motion was confirmed to have failed, he changed his vote to NO.

According to Senate procedural rules, only senators who vote with the winning side (the majority) are eligible to file a Motion to Reconsider a failed cloture motion. By switching his vote from YES to NO, Tillis is able to formally file a motion to reconsider. This preserves a pathway for the Senate to hold another cloture vote on the CLARITY Act without having to restart the entire legislative process from scratch. Had Tillis insisted on voting YES, he himself would not have been able to file the motion — but after the vote switch, Republicans now have an opportunity at the Senate level to once again initiate a cloture vote.