How did each chamber vote on the 16th Amendment and what were the vote counts?

1. Quick answer: the congressional roll calls and where the numbers come from

Congress passed the proposed amendment in 1909; the Senate recorded a unanimous 77–0 approval, and the House recorded 318 in favor and 14 opposed (some official House historical notes also record 1 member voting “present” and 55 not voting) ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

2. Why the two chambers’ counts differ in presentation

Senate practice produced a clean unanimous tally of 77–0 recorded in multiple secondary sources and institutional summaries ^[1]. House reporting is more granular in archival accounts: the commonly cited partisan vote is 318 yea to 14 nay, while House historical pages also list one “present” and 55 members not voting — that explains apparent discrepancy between short summaries and fuller roll‑call accounting ^{[2] [1]}.

3. How historians and major references report the vote

Encyclopedias and legal resources (Britannica, Constitution Annotated, Investopedia) and the National Archives align on the headline figures (Senate 77–0; House 318–14) and add context about the short legislative timeline in July 1909 and later ratification by the states leading to proclamation in 1913 ^{[4] [1] [3]}.

4. What the House “present” and not‑voting entries mean in context

House archival notes record procedural realities of early 20th‑century roll calls: one member voted “present” and 55 did not vote, which is separate from the yea/nay totals that determined passage. Sources that quote only yea/nay (318–14) are accurate for the decision; more detailed House records capture the full attendance and voting behavior ^[2].

5. Why the final passage in Congress mattered legally and politically

Congress proposed the amendment by the two‑thirds concurrence required for constitutional proposals; once the House and Senate approved it in 1909, state legislatures had to ratify it. The amendment removed the apportionment obstacle to a federal income tax and enabled the modern federal income tax system after state ratifications culminated in 1913 ^{[3] [4]}.

6. Alternative perspectives and contemporaneous politics

Sources note that the amendment’s approval reflected a political realignment: a coalition of progressive Republicans, Democrats and other groups supported the tax power while conservative opponents expected failure (and in some cases proposed alternate language) — these dynamics help explain the lopsided Senate unanimity and large House majority ^{[5] [1]}. Contemporary conservative strategists initially thought a constitutional income‑tax amendment would be difficult to ratify; the outcome proved otherwise ^{[3] [5]}.

7. Limits of the available reporting and what’s not covered here

Available sources supplied with your query report the vote totals and broad political context but do not include a complete, line‑by‑line House roll‑call list in the documents provided here; they also do not provide floor debate transcripts beyond summaries of a five‑hour House debate on July 12, 1909 ^{[2] [1]}. If you want every member’s individual vote from House and Senate journals, those specific roll‑call prints are not in the current source set — available sources do not mention the full member‑by‑member roll calls in this packet ^[2].

8. Bottom line for readers and potential misuses of the numbers

The conventional, widely cited congressional vote counts are Senate 77–0 and House 318–14; archival nuance in the House shows one “present” and many not voting but does not change the fact that Congress formally proposed the amendment with the required majorities in July 1909 ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Beware summaries that omit the House absentees if you need the granular attendance record — both forms of reporting appear across reputable institutional sources ^{[2] [1]}.