The order in which government leaders are tasked with
performing the duties of the president if the incumbent cannot carry out the
office’s responsibilities.
Veep
Article II of
the Constitution establishes the presidential succession sequence. The vice president
is to serve when the president is unable to discharge their duties. Further, Article
II directs Congress to establish officers to fill the role should the vice
president also be unable to serve. Congress passed the first Presidential Succession Act in 1792, adding the president pro tempore of the Senate
and speaker of the House to the line of succession.
The ratification of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in 1967 sets further
parameters and remedies for presidential disability and succession. Today, the order of
succession begins with the vice president, the speaker of the House, and the
president pro tempore of the Senate before the cabinet secretaries, which
remain in order of agency establishment.
Madam
Secretary
Historical
events also have led to an adjustment in succession policy, including the
establishment of the designated survivor procedure in the 1950s during the Cold
War. The designated survivor is an individual in the presidential line of
succession chosen to remain in a secure facility during events such as the
State of the Union and presidential inaugurations in the event of mass
casualties. Designated survivors must be eligible to serve as president,
meaning they must meet age and citizenship requirements. The secrecy and
significance of this role heightened after the September 11 terrorist attacks when
then-Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans was sequestered in a secure facility
for several days.
In the wake
of September 11, the House amended its rules to include a new provision for continuity in the
event of a catastrophe. Since 2003, the speaker provides the clerk “a list of
Members in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore” in the
case of a vacancy. Individuals included on this list are a closely held
secret to protect their safety and ensure continuing governmental operations.
House of
Cards
With the
118th Congress having two speakers so far, the line of presidential succession
entered uncharted waters over the past few weeks. For nearly a month, the
office of the second-in-line for the presidency was vacant. Speaker Mike
Johnson (R-LA), in Congress for just seven years and unknown to most Americans,
now sits two heartbeats from the presidency.