vote-a-rama

noun

vote-a-ra·​ma ˌvō-tə-ˈrä-mə 

-ˈra-

plural vote-a-ramas

US government

: an unusually large number of debates and votes that happen in one day on a single piece of legislation to which an unlimited number of amendments can be introduced, debated, and voted on

The Senate defines it as 15 or more votes that happen on a piece of legislation in a single day (while vote-a-ramas are often done on budget resolutions, they can be about any piece of legislation, like the health care bill). After the allotted time of debate on a bill expires, any senator can introduce an unlimited number of amendments to a piece of legislation. They then vote on the amendments, marathon-style. This can go on for hours.

—Jessica Estepa

Passing a budget resolution is part of a process known as reconciliation, which allows legislation to pass in the Senate with only a simple majority instead of the typical 60-vote threshold, meaning Democrats would be able to green-light it without any Republican votes. But Republicans forced Democrats to go on the record with a series of votes on a slew of amendments in the politically painful "vote-a-rama."

—Grace Segers

Examples of vote-a-rama in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The reconciliation measure is unrelated to the Justice Department fund, but Democrats vowed to force votes on amendments targeting the fund during the Senate's vote-a-rama on the funding package, which was expected to begin Thursday. —Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 22 May 2026

Any changes the House makes would then have to go back to the Senate, where the chamber would have to undertake another vote-a-rama. —Barbara Sprunt, NPR, 23 Apr. 2026

Text for the Senate’s budget resolution setting up the bill is expected early this week, with an unlimited vote-a-rama in the coming days. —Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 20 Apr. 2026

The Senate is heading into a vote-a-rama this afternoon to pass $9 billion in spending cuts. —Cate Martel, The Hill, 16 July 2025

The Senate on Wednesday afternoon started a process is dubbed vote-a-rama, where members can offer up amendments. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 16 July 2025

What started as a routine but laborious day of amendment voting, in a process called vote-a-rama, spiraled into an all-night slog as Republican leaders bought time to shore up support. —Jim Edwards, Fortune, 1 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

vote entry 2 + -arama

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for vote-a-rama

• diorama
• panorama
• trichogramma
• gamma
• grama
• gramma