If, however, the officer's service is based on the inability of the President or Vice President, then the officer would be superseded by the removal of the disability of the President or Vice President. This provision addressed several of the issues cited earlier in this report that have been noted by critics of the Succession Act of First, by eliminating the displacement of a cabinet officer acting as President, except in cases of presidential or vice presidential inability, it would remove a potential source of instability: once installed as acting President, the cabinet officer would remain in this position for the balance of the presidential term, unless, as noted above, the officer is acting due to the presumably temporary inability of the President or Vice President.
Further, under these circumstances it would almost certainly remove the possibility of a President and Vice President being succeeded by an acting President of a different party, which has proved to be an issue of continuing concern since passage of the Succession Act of This would, some suggest, provide a presumably experienced executive who would act as President.
On the other hand, some might argue that continuing a cabinet officer as acting President after a Speaker or President Pro Tempore had qualified would violate the original intention of the Succession Act, which was to ensure that elected rather than appointed officers would succeed to the presidency. It can be further argued that experience as a Member of either house of Congress and service as Speaker or President Pro Tempore would not necessarily be inconsistent with executive experience and ability.
Section 3 proposed to change the current provisions of 3 U. Instead, such officers would not automatically resign if they were acting due "in whole or in part" to the "inability of the President or the Vice President. Section 4 was a technical adjustment to 3 U.
No further action was taken on this proposal. It sought to empower the President to choose an officer among specified congressional leadership positions who would be designated to succeed in case of simultaneous vacancies, disqualifications, or inability in the offices of President and Vice President. This would have had the effect of eliminating the possibility that a President and Vice President would be succeeded by congressional leaders of a different party than their own.
At the same time, the bill would have continued the tradition established by the Succession Act of that elected, rather than appointed officials, i. Under the bill's provisions, the President was to submit to the Clerk of the House of Representatives his choice of either the office of the Speaker, or the office of the minority leader as designated primary office of succession.
Similarly, the President would submit to the Secretary of the Senate his designation of the office of majority or minority leader of the Senate as the secondary successor under the act. Thus, the President would have the option of choosing a member of his own political party as his potential successor under such circumstances. This section of the bill dealing with the Senate contained a further significant change from existing procedures in that it sought to establish the person holding the office of majority or minority leader of the Senate, rather than the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, as secondary successor.
The intention here was arguably that this change would place a younger and perhaps more vigorous Senator of the President's party in line of succession, rather than the President Pro Tempore, who is customarily the senior Senator of the majority party.
In common with the bill's House-related provisions, it would also have ensured that the President and Vice President would be succeeded temporarily or permanently, depending on conditions, by a member of the political party of their choosing. This would safeguard party continuity in the presidency, but would not assure it, since a President would be free to choose from among both parties. It is arguable that a President might choose a House or Senate officer from a party other than his own as a demonstration of bipartisanship.
A question could be raised, however, as to the constitutional status of the House minority leader and the majority and minority leaders of the Senate. Are these officials "officers" of Congress? While a change in House and Senate rules to establish these positions as offices would appear to eliminate this hurdle, the perennial question would remain as to whether any officers of Congress are eligible to succeed under the Constitution.
In common with H. In case of the former, then the acting President would serve only until the disability of the President or Vice President was removed. In case of the latter contingency, he would serve until a President or Vice President qualifies. No further action was taken on the proposal during the th Congress.
These resolutions, introduced respectively by Representative Brad Sherman, on September 14, , and Senators John Cornyn and Trent Lott on February 12, , addressed the desirability, from the standpoint of continuity of government, of having the officers comprising a President-elect's line of succession confirmed and in place by the time of the inauguration.
They recommended that a President whose term is coming to an end, and who will not succeed himself, should submit his successor's nominations for offices that fall within the line of succession to the Senate for its consideration before his term ends. They further recommended that the confirmation process for such officers should be completed by the Senate, insofar as possible, between January 3, the date on which the new Congress assembles, unless otherwise arranged, and January 20, the date on which the incumbent President's term ends.
Finally they urged the incumbent President to sign and deliver commissions for those officers whose nominations have been approved on January 20, so that they will be in place when the President-elect is nominated. Traditionally, Presidents-elect announce their Cabinet choices during the transition period that normally takes place between election day and January 20 of the following year, when the newly-elected President actually assumes office.
Also during this period, incumbent Presidents' cabinet officers traditionally submit their resignations, generally effective on inauguration day. Although investigations of and hearings on cabinet nominees for an incoming administration are often under way before the changeover, official nominations by a new President, and subsequent advice and consent by the Senate, cannot occur until after the new President has assumed office.
Frequently, this process continues for some weeks, or longer in the case of controversial or contested nominations, so that the full Cabinet may not be sworn until well after the inauguration. Representative Sherman, Senators Cornyn and Lott and other observers viewed this gap, particularly in the confirmation and swearing-in of cabinet officers included in the line of succession, as a threat to continuity in both the presidency and in executive branch management.
One advantage conferred by this proposal was that cabinet secretaries, unlike elected officials, do not serve set terms of office which expire on a date certain. If the level of interpersonal and bipartisan cooperation envisaged in the resolution could be attained, an incoming President might assume office on January 20 with a full Cabinet already sworn and installed, thus reducing the potential for disruption of the executive branch by a terrorist attack.
The process recommended by H. They would make it more likely that every incoming President would have a cabinet nominated, vetted, and sworn on January In addition to the national security-related advantage this would confer, it would arguably provide an impetus to streamlining the sometimes lengthy and contentious transition and appointments process faced by all incoming administrations.
It would also, however, face substantial obstacles. It would require high levels of good will and cooperation between incumbent Presidents and their successors. Moreover, it would impose a sizeable volume of confirmation-related business on both the lame duck and newly-sworn Congresses during the 10 weeks following a presidential election. During this period, the expiring Congress traditionally adjourns sine die, while the new Congress generally performs only internal business and counts the electoral votes between its own installation on January 3 and the presidential inauguration.
No further action was taken on either resolution. No further action was taken on. Section 1 established the title. Section 2 a repealed subsections a , b , and c of Section 19 of Title 3 of the U. This eliminated any role for the Speaker and President Pro Tempore in presidential succession.
Succession in cases of the death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify would pass directly to cabinet officers in the order in which their departments were created. Section 2 b inserted the Secretary of Homeland Security in the order of succession directly following the Attorney General.
It also repealed the "bumping" or supplantation procedure, except in cases of disability of both the President and Vice President, and states that service as acting President by a cabinet officer does not require the officer's resignation from his departmental post. Section 2 c provided for succession in the event that an Acting President "shall die, resign, or be removed It also confirmed potential Acting Presidents must: 1 meet constitutional qualifications for the presidency; 2 have been confirmed by the Senate in their cabinet position; and 3 not be under impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time they accede to the office.
This bill met many of the objections to the Succession Act of offered by the acts's critics by providing for cabinet succession, and eliminating both bumping except in cases of presidential and vice presidential disability and the automatic resignation provision imposed by current law on any cabinet officer who assumes the acting presidency. It could, however, have been open to criticism on some of the same grounds; i. No further action has was taken on it. Additional succession-related proposals have been offered that have not been introduced as legislation.
One proposal, suggested by John C. Fortier 50 at the joint Senate committee hearings, would have Congress establish a number 51 of additional federal officers whose specific duties and function would be to be ready to assume the acting presidency if necessary. Fortier envisions that the President would appoint them, subject to Senate confirmation, and that obvious candidates would be governors, former presidents, vice presidents, cabinet officers, and Members of Congress, in other words, private citizens who have had broad experience in government.
They would receive regular briefings, and would also serve as advisors to the President. A further crucial element is that they would be located outside the Washington, D.
Miller Baker offered other proposals during his testimony at the September, , hearings, all of which would require amending the Succession Act of Under one, the President would be empowered to name an unspecified number of state governors as potential successors. The constitutional mechanism here would be the President's ability to call state militias the National Guard into federal service. A second proposal by Fortier would amend the Succession Act to establish a series of assistant vice presidents, nominated by the President, and subject to approval by advice and consent of the Senate.
These officers would be included in the order of succession at an appropriate place. They would be classic "stand-by" equipment: their primary function would be to be informed, prepared, and physically safe, ready to serve as acting president, should that be required. Akil Amar proposed a similar measure, that the cabinet position of assistant vice president established by law, again, nominated by the President and subject to confirmation by the Senate.
In his testimony before the September, , joint Senate committee hearings, he suggested that presidential candidates should announce their choices for this office during the presidential campaign. This would presumably enhance the electoral legitimacy of the assistant vice president, as voters would be fully aware of the candidates' choices for this potentially important office, and include this in their voting decisions.
A further variant was offered by Howard Wasserman during his joint Senate committee hearing testimony. He suggested establishment of the cabinet office of first secretary, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The first secretary's duties would be the same as those of the offices proposed above, with special emphasis on full inclusion and participation in administration policies, "This officer must be in contact with the President and the administration, as an active member of the cabinet, aware of and involved in the creation and execution of public policy.
Finally, Fortier proposed a constitutional amendment that would eliminate the requirement that successors be officers of the United States, empowering the President to nominate potential successors beyond the cabinet, subject to advice and consent by the Senate.
Such an amendment, he argues, would " As examples, he suggested that President George W. Bush might nominate, " Bush and former Vice President Dan Quayle, both of whom no longer live in Washington, to serve in the line of succession.
Similarly, a future Democratic President might nominate former Vice Presidents Al Gore and Walter Mondale to serve in the statutory line of succession. Seemingly a long-settled legislative and constitutional question, the issue of presidential and vice presidential succession in the United States has gained a degree of urgency following the events of September 11, Old issues have been revisited, and new questions have been asked in light of concerns over a potentially disastrous "decapitation" of the U.
Government as the result of a terrorist attack, possibly by use of weapons of mass destruction. The th Congress did not act to insert the office of Secretary of Homeland Security into the current line of succession. Major revisions to current succession legislation are less likely in the short run, although the foundations for future consideration were laid by the Senate and House hearings, which provided a forum for public discussions of current succession provisions, their alleged shortcomings, and a wide range of proposals for change.
In the private sector, the American Enterprise Institute's Continuity of Government Commission is scheduled to address continuity in the presidency, having completed studies on continuity of the Congress. Table 1. Presidential Successions by Vice Presidents. Table 2. Vice Presidential Successions Under the 25th Amendment Table 3. Article II, Section 1, clause 6. This text was later changed and clarified by Section 1 of the 25th Amendment. Wright, ed.
Also, the act provided only for election of the President, since electors cast two votes for President during this period prior to ratification of the 12th Amendment, which specified separate electoral votes for President and Vice President , with the electoral vote runner-up elected Vice President. As was also customary, the Senate had convened on March 10, but primarily to consider President Garfield's cabinet and other nominations. Kennedy — and was ratified by three-quarters of the states in , according to the U.
National Archives. And when Nixon resigned the following year, Ford became president and nominated Nelson Rockefeller, the former governor of New York, to become vice president. It is true, however, that under current law , if there is no president or vice president, the House speaker would be next in line for the presidency. Our previous stories can be found here. How a U. Vice Presidential Vacancy Is Filled. If Vice President Mike Pence was to become president for any reason, how would his vice president be named?
Naval Observatory. Walter Mondale was the first Vice President to live in the home, though refurbishment of the space began in How many Presidents were also Vice Presidents? There are 15 presidents who previously served as a Vice President. Nine of them became presidents due to the resignation or death of the elected president.
Five of those nine were not elected in the following election. What are the role and job duties of the vice president? A Vice President casts a tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
They play the role of advisor, loyal to the president and no other party. What house does the Vice President live in? The U. The house was developed in to accommodate the observatory superintendent and was refurbished to act as a home for the Vice President in the early s.
Who gets sworn in first: the vice president or the president? The Vice President is sworn in before the President. They recite their oath on the inaugural platform built on the West Front of the U.
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