The president's plan for a department of homeland security granted him the power to de-unionize workers at his discretion. This became perhaps the central point of debate in the bill. Progressives strongly opposed this change, believing it was unnecessary for a functioning department of homeland security. Gramm (R-TX) proposed a version of the bill that gave a nod to the Progressive position but left the substance fundamentally unchanged: it required the president to certify his reasons for any deunionization, but did not provide a mechanism for opposing his actions. In the Senate, "cloture" must be invoked to limit debate and move a bill toward final passage. When Democrats controlled the Senate, Progressives had supported cloture on Gramm's proposal because the amendment was unlikely to win. But with change in party control as a result of the 2002 elections, cloture suddenly meant Gramm's proposal would come to a vote and was likely to replace the Democratic version. Progressives voted no, but they stood almost alone: the vote for cloture was 89-8.