The new Lisbon Treaty raises the threshold for approving a new commission from a simple majority of MEPs present, to an absolute majority, ie, more than half of all MEPs must approve each new college of commissioners.

ECONOMIST: European politics

In addition to giving the legislature's upper house this direct role in treaty-making, the Framers enshrined in the Constitution a high threshold for such consent: Not just a simple majority but fully two-thirds of the Senate must give their approval for any treaty to be ratified.

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And he stressed that the existing threshold for a no-confidence vote would remain as a simple majority of 50% plus one.

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Democrats hold a 55-45 advantage in the Senate and would have the votes to confirm Hagel on a simple majority, but they would need five Republican votes for the 60-vote threshold to break a GOP filibuster.

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