When Kamala Harris took the oath of office in 2021, she wasn’t just stepping into a historic role as the first woman, first Black American, and first South Asian American Vice President. She was walking into a 50-50 Senate and a country teetering on the edge of a post-pandemic identity crisis. Honestly, if you ask the average person on the street what she’s actually done, you'll probably get a blank stare or a talking point about the border. But the reality is way more "in the weeds" than that.
She’s basically been the tie-breaking engine of the Biden-Harris administration.
Breaking a 200-Year-Old Record in the Senate
Let’s talk about the Senate for a second. It’s usually where good ideas go to die in a pile of procedural filibusters. Because the Senate was split right down the middle, Harris ended up being the most frequent tie-breaker in American history. On December 5, 2023, she cast her 32nd tie-breaking vote. That officially pushed her past John C. Calhoun, a record that had been sitting there since 1832.
Think about that.
The previous record-holder took nearly eight years to hit that number. Harris did it in less than three. These weren't just "ceremonial" votes either. We’re talking about the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan. Without her literally sitting in that chair to break the tie, the largest climate investment in world history simply wouldn't exist. She also used that power to confirm over 200 federal judges, many of whom are women and people of color, fundamentally changing the face of the American judiciary.
The "Root Causes" and the Border Reality
People love to throw the "Border Czar" title around, usually to criticize her. But if you look at what she was actually tasked with, it was the "Root Causes Strategy." Basically, the goal was to stop people from wanting to leave El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in the first place.
It’s a long game.
She spearheaded a public-private partnership that has, as of early 2026, generated over $5.2 billion in private sector investments. Companies like Nestlé, Target, and Microsoft jumped in to create jobs and expand internet access in those regions.
Did it stop the migration crisis overnight? No. It’s complicated. While migration from those specific three countries actually dropped by about 35% in 2023, it was offset by a massive surge of people coming from Venezuela and Cuba. It's a classic case of solving one part of a Rubik's cube while the other sides stay messy.
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Maternal Health and Reproductive Rights
This is where Harris arguably found her strongest personal footing. She’s been the administration’s "closer" on reproductive freedom since the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. She launched a nationwide "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour, becoming the first sitting Vice President to ever visit a reproductive health clinic (a Planned Parenthood in Minnesota, specifically).
But she’s also been obsessed with a topic that doesn't get enough headlines: Maternal Mortality.
Before she took office, postpartum Medicaid coverage in most states lasted for a measly 60 days. That’s it. You have a baby, and two months later, you're on your own. Harris pushed a massive expansion that allowed states to extend that coverage to a full year. Now, 46 states have signed on. For a country with the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy nations—especially for Black women—this is a genuine, life-saving policy shift.
Leading the Charge on Gun Violence
In late 2023, Biden put Harris in charge of the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention. It sounds like another government committee, but it’s actually been doing the heavy lifting on things like:
- Closing the "gun show loophole" (requiring background checks at shows and online).
- Implementing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
- Helping states set up "Red Flag" laws.
She’s spent a lot of time meeting with families in Parkland and Uvalde. It's heavy work. But by coordinating federal resources, her office helped clear the way for the FBI to conduct more thorough background checks on buyers under 21, which has already blocked thousands of illegal sales to people with disqualifying records.
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Diplomatic Heavy Lifting
She’s traveled to over 19 countries and met with more than 150 world leaders. In Munich, she had to stand on a stage and reassure NATO allies that the U.S. wasn't going to bail on them, even as domestic politics got shaky. In Southeast Asia, she was the one working to build a "firewall" against Chinese influence by strengthening ties with Vietnam and the Philippines.
Is it all wins? Not necessarily. International diplomacy is a grind. But she’s been the "bad cop" or the "steady hand" in rooms where Biden couldn't be.
What This Means for You
If you're trying to track her impact, don't look for one single "Harris Law." Look at the scaffolding of the current economy. The $35 insulin cap for seniors? She cast the vote. The expansion of high-speed internet to 2.4 million rural homes? She was the lead advocate for the BEAD program.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your Medicaid status: If you’re a new parent in one of the 46 participating states, you’re likely now eligible for a full year of postpartum care instead of just two months.
- Look into the "Call to Action" results: If you're in the tech or manufacturing sector, look at the supply chain shifts happening in Central America; the $5.2 billion in investment is creating new B2B opportunities for U.S. companies.
- Track Judicial Nominations: Follow the American Bar Association’s ratings of the new federal judges confirmed under Harris’s tie-breaking votes; these are the people who will be interpreting laws for the next 30 years.
The Vice Presidency is a weird job. It’s half-shadow, half-spotlight. But whether you like her politics or not, Harris has been objectively one of the most active VPs in modern memory simply because the math of the Senate demanded it.