Presidential Succession: An Overview with Analysis of Legislation Proposed in the 109th Congress

Publication Date: June 2005

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Government

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Abstract:

Whenever the office of President of the United States becomes vacant due to "removal ... death or resignation" of the chief executive, the Constitution provides that "the Vice President shall become President." When the office of Vice President becomes vacant for any reason, the President nominates a successor, who must be confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of Congress. If both of these offices are vacant simultaneously, then, under the Succession Act of 1947, the Speaker of the House of Representatives becomes President, after resigning from the House and as Speaker. If the speakership is also vacant, then the President Pro Tempore of the Senate becomes President, after resigning from the Senate and as President Pro Tempore. If both of these offices are vacant, or if the incumbents fail to qualify for any reason, then cabinet officers are eligible to succeed, in the order established by law (3 U.S.C. Section 19, see Table 3). In every case, a potential successor must be duly sworn in his or her previous office, and must meet other constitutional requirements for the presidency, i.e., be at least 35 years of age, a "natural born citizen," and for 14 years, a "resident within the United States."

Succession provisions are derived from the Constitution, statutory law, and political precedents of the past two centuries. Since 1789, Vice Presidents have succeeded to the presidency on nine occasions, eight times due to the death of the incumbent, and once due to resignation (see Table 1). The vice presidency has become vacant on 18 occasions since 1789. Nine of these occurred when the Vice President succeeded to the presidency; seven resulted from the death of the incumbent; and two were due to resignation (see Table 2).

Despite occasional discussions, presidential succession was widely considered a settled issue prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. These events demonstrated the potential for a mass "decapitation" of both the legislative and executive branches of government, and raised questions as to the whether current arrangements were adequate to guarantee continuity in government under such circumstances. These concerns have led to a range of discussions in both Congress and the public policy community. Legislation introduced in the 109th Congress falls into two categories: bills that would incorporate the most recently established cabinet position, the Secretary of Homeland Security, into the order of succession (H.R. 1422, Representative Tom Davis, and S. 442, Senator Mike DeWine), and bills that would include the Secretary of Homeland Security in the line of succession, but which also include provisions intended to ensure continuity in the presidency in the event of a catastrophic attack on the U.S. Government (H.R. 1943, Representative Brad Sherman, and S. 920, Senator John Cornyn). No action beyond committee referral has been taken on any of these proposals at the time of this writing.

This report will be updated as events warrant.