Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) tried to deliver a smug “Civics 101” lecture on Twitter and was quickly fact-checked by the platform’s Community Notes. In the post, Van Orden claimed the Senate needs 60 votes to pass a bill, saying Republicans could do it with 53 members if six Democrats joined and Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote.

“Follow me for more s*** you should have learned in 4th grade,” he wrote. But Van Orden’s own civics lesson fell apart under scrutiny. The Senate’s rules make clear that invoking cloture, which ends debate to advance a bill, requires a fixed three-fifths majority, or 60 votes.

After cloture, the bill is considered and only needs a simple majority to pass. If there was a 50-50 tie at this point, then the vice president could break the tie.

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