![]() ![]() Some constitutional scholars have raised doubts about whether the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate are eligible to step in for the president, arguing that the framers intended for only executive branch officials - an “officer” is the term in the Constitution - to qualify. What if there is a dispute over who is in power?Īlthough the presidential succession is clearly enshrined in law, some legal scholars argue that it may not be consistent with the Constitution, posing potentially disastrous problems if the nation’s top two leaders could no longer serve. If the group that removed his or her powers disagreed, the question would be left to Congress, with a requirement that two-thirds of the House and Senate must agree in order to strip the elected president of power. The arrangement would last until the president informed Congress that “no inability exists" and he could perform his duties. If a majority of either group decides and informs the House and Senate that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” then “the vice president shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as acting president.” The power has never been used, and political considerations could make it difficult to unlock. ![]() The amendment grants the vice president, acting together with the cabinet or a group appointed by Congress, powers to intervene. After he had a stroke in 1919, President Woodrow Wilson spent the remainder of his term partially paralyzed and blinded his condition was mostly kept a secret. To the amendment’s authors, these were not merely wild hypotheticals. (It was tweaked again in 2006.) The statute says the speaker of the House is next in line, followed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, and then members of the cabinet, starting with the secretary of state. ![]() The most recent, the Presidential Succession Act, was enacted in 1947 after the death of President Franklin D. The Constitution leaves it to Congress to decide what should happen if the vice president also dies or cannot serve, and several laws have been enacted to lay out the contingencies. (In 1974, Vice President Gerald Ford became president after the resignation of President Richard M. A vice president has assumed the nation’s highest office because of the president’s death eight times, most recently in 1963, after the assassination of John F. The ascension of a vice president under such circumstances has not been that rare in United States history. The 25th Amendment states: “In case of the removal of the president from office or of his death or resignation, the vice president shall become president.” The Constitution and the law are clearest in instances when a president dies or must resign from office. Here’s how it works: What happens if Trump dies or cannot serve? ![]()
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