View source for Presidential Succession Act

{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{short description|Law regarding the order of succession to United States president}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2015}}

The [[United States]] '''Presidential Succession Act''' is a [[Act of Congress|federal statute]] establishing the [[United States presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Presidential Succession Act Law and Legal Definition|url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/presidential-succession-act/|work=US Legal System|publisher=USLegal|access-date=July 3, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220156/https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/presidential-succession-act/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 6: Vacancy and disability|Article II, Section 1, Clause 6]] of the [[United States Constitution]] authorizes [[United States Congress|Congress]] to enact such a statute:

{{quote|Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the [[President of the United States|President]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]], declaring what Officer shall then [[Acting president of the United States|act as President]], and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.<ref name=A2essayPS>{{cite web|title=Essays on Article II: Presidential Succession|work=The Heritage Guide to the Constitution|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/83/presidential-succession|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|access-date=July 16, 2018|archive-date=August 22, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200822232208/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/%23!/amendments/8/essays/161/cruel-and-unusual-punishment#!/articles/2/essays/83/presidential-succession|url-status=unfit}}</ref>}} Congress has enacted a Presidential Succession Act on three occasions: 1792 ({{USStat|1|239}}), 1886 ({{USStat|24|1}}), and 1947 ({{USStat|61|380}}). The 1947 Act was last revised in 2006.

Although none of these succession acts have ever been invoked, an invocation was a distinct possibility on several occasions. However, the future likelihood that a person in the line of succession beyond the vice president will be called upon under normal circumstances to be [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]] has diminished greatly due to the [[Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-fifth Amendment's]] provision for filling vice presidential vacancies.<ref name=Neale2004CRS>{{cite web|last=Neale|first=Thomas H.|title=Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation|work=CRS Report for Congress|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31761.pdf|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]], the [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=September 27, 2004|access-date=July 3, 2018|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173057/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31761.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Presidential Succession Act of 1792==

Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution authorizes Congress to declare who should act as president if both the president and vice president died or were otherwise unavailable to serve during their terms of office. Legislation to establish such a line of succession was introduced in December 1790 in the [[United States House of Representatives]], in the [[1st United States Congress|1st Congress]]. When brought up for discussion the following month, the [[president pro tempore of the United States Senate]] and the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House of Representatives]] were proposed; the [[United States secretary of state]] and the [[chief justice of the United States]] were as well.<ref name=A2essayPS/> Lawmakers failed to reach consensus on who should be the statutory successor. Naming the secretary of state was unacceptable to most [[Federalist Party|Federalists]], as they did not want the office's then-occupant, [[Thomas Jefferson]], the leader of the growing [[Anti-Administration party|anti-administration]] opposition that would become the [[Democratic-Republican Party]], placed so close to the presidency. Constitutional and policy objections were raised to naming the president pro tempore of the Senate or the speaker of the House, as it was assumed the individual would retain their office and seat in Congress while temporarily performing duties of the presidency;<ref>{{cite web|title=Presidential Succession: February 20, 1792|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Presidential_Succession.htm|publisher=Secretary of the Senate|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=July 16, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220229/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Presidential_Succession.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> similar [[separation of powers]] concerns were also raised regarding the chief justice.<ref name=65FFH5762>{{cite book|title=From Failing Hands: the Story of Presidential Succession|last1=Feerick|first1=John D.|last2=Freund|first2=Paul A.|date=1965|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|publisher=Fordham University Press|location=New York City|pages=57–62|lccn=65-14917|access-date=July 12, 2018|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120053125/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|url-status=live}}</ref>

The matter was raised again when the [[2nd United States Congress|2nd Congress]] convened later in 1791. On November 30, the Senate approved legislation titled "An act relative to the election of a President and Vice President of the United States, and declaring the officer who shall act as President in case of vacancies in the offices both of President and Vice President", which was sent to the House for concurrence. It contained a provision naming the president pro tempore of the Senate, or, if that office were vacant, the speaker of the House as acting president if a vacancy arose in both the presidency and vice presidency.<ref name=65FFH5762/> Various representatives, including a number of the Constitution's framers, criticized the arrangement as being contrary to their intent. As a result, after a contentious debate, on February 15, 1792, the House struck out the president pro tempore and speaker and inserted the secretary of state in their place. The Senate rejected the House change a few days later, and the House relented. The bill became law on March 1, 1792, with the signature of President [[George Washington]].<ref name=A2essayPS/><ref name=65FFH5762/>

The Presidential Succession Act of 1792 ({{Cws|title=Full text|link=Presidential Succession Act 1792|nobullet=yes}}), sections 9 and 10 of a larger act regarding the election of the president and vice president, provided that the president pro tempore of the Senate would be first in line for the presidency should the offices of the president and the vice president both be vacant. The speaker of the House was second in line.<ref>{{cite web|last=Glass|first=Andrew|date=July 18, 2016|title=Truman signs Presidential Succession Act, July 18, 1947|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/truman-signs-presidential-succession-act-july-18-1947-225628|publisher=Politico|access-date=July 16, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220139/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/truman-signs-presidential-succession-act-july-18-1947-225628|url-status=live}}</ref> Section 9 provided that the statutory successor would serve in an acting capacity until a new president could be elected.<ref name=CRS2005continuity>{{cite web|last=Relyea|first=Harold C.|title=Continuity of Government: Current Federal Arrangements and the Future|work=CRS Report for Congress|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RS21089.pdf|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]], the [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=2–4|date=August 5, 2005|access-date=June 16, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194610/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RS21089.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn-ua|Under the original procedure for choosing the President and Vice President prescribed by Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, of the Constitution, each [[United States Electoral College|presidential elector]] cast two votes for President; at least one of the individuals voted for had to be from a state different from the elector's. The individual with the majority of votes became President, and the runner-up became Vice President.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fried|first=Charles|title=Articles on Amendment XII: Electoral College|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/12/essays/165/electoral-college|work=The Heritage Guide to the Constitution|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|access-date=July 18, 2018|archive-date=August 22, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200822232208/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/%23!/amendments/8/essays/161/cruel-and-unusual-punishment#!/amendments/12/essays/165/electoral-college|url-status=unfit}}</ref>}} If such a double vacancy occurred, Section 10 directed the secretary of state to notify the governor of each state of the vacancies and of the special election to fill them. This special election would take place no fewer than two months later.<ref name=39HLR3>{{cite journal|last=Albert|first=Richard|title=The Constitutional Politics of Presidential Succession|journal=Hofstra Law Review|volume=39|issue=3|pages=497–576|year=2011|url=https://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/academics/journals/lawreview/lrv_issues_v39n03_cc-1-albert-final.pdf|access-date=July 8, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220101/https://law.hofstra.edu/pdf/academics/journals/lawreview/lrv_issues_v39n03_cc-1-albert-final.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The persons elected president and vice president in such a special election would have served a full four-year term beginning on March 4 of the next year; no such election ever took place.<ref name=Hamlin1905HLR>{{cite journal|title=The Presidential Succession Act of 1886|last=Hamlin|first=Charles S.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/jstor-1323239/page/n1 182]–195|journal=Harvard Law Review|volume=18|year=1905|issue=3|doi=10.2307/1323239|jstor=1323239|url=https://archive.org/details/jstor-1323239|access-date=July 14, 2018|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

===Potential implementation===
{{see also|United States presidential line of succession#Under the 1792 succession act}}
While the succession provisions of the 1792 Act were never invoked, there were ten instances when the vice presidency was vacant:<ref name=VP-PS>{{cite web|title=Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate)|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_President.htm|publisher=Office of the Secretary, United States Senate|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=July 4, 2018|archive-date=November 15, 2002|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021115191818/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Vice_President.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* April 20, 1812{{snd}}March 4, 1813 ({{ayd|1812|04|20|1813|03|04}}) following the death of [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]
* November 23, 1814{{snd}}March 4, 1817 ({{ayd|1814|11|23|1817|03|04}}) following the death of [[Elbridge Gerry]]
* December 28, 1832{{snd}}March 4, 1833 ({{ayd|1832|12|28|1833|03|04}}) following the resignation of [[John C. Calhoun]]
* April 4, 1841{{snd}}March 4, 1845 ({{ayd|1841|04|04|1845|03|04}}) following the accession of [[John Tyler]] to the presidency
* July 9, 1850{{snd}}March 4, 1853 ({{ayd|1850|07|09|1853|03|04}}) following the accession of [[Millard Fillmore]] to the presidency
* April 18, 1853{{snd}}March 4, 1857 ({{ayd|1853|04|18|1857|03|04}}) following the death of [[William R. King]]
* April 15, 1865{{snd}}March 4, 1869 ({{ayd|1865|04|15|1869|03|04}}) following the accession of [[Andrew Johnson]] to the presidency
* November 22, 1875{{snd}}March 4, 1877 ({{ayd|1875|11|22|1877|03|04}}) following the death of [[Henry Wilson]]
* September 19, 1881{{snd}}March 4, 1885 ({{ayd|1881|09|19|1885|03|04}}) following the accession of [[Chester A. Arthur]] to the presidency
* November 25, 1885{{snd}}March 4, 1889 ({{ayd|1885|11|25|1889|03|04}}) following the death of [[Thomas A. Hendricks]]

In each case, had the incumbent president died, resigned, been removed from office or been disabled during one of these vice presidential vacancies, the president pro tempore of the Senate would have become the acting president. Such a double vacancy nearly occurred on three occasions:
* In 1844, President John Tyler narrowly missed being one of the several people killed when a gun on the newly built {{USS|Princeton|1843|6}} exploded during a ceremonial cruise. Had Tyler died, Senate President pro tempore [[Willie Person Mangum]] would have become acting president.<ref>{{cite book|last=Crapol|first=Edward P.|title=John Tyler: the accidental president|year=2006|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-3041-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/johntyleracciden00edwa/page/208 208]–209|url=https://archive.org/details/johntyleracciden00edwa|url-access=registration|quote=Princeton.|access-date=July 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=From Failing Hands: the Story of Presidential Succession|last1=Feerick|first1=John D.|last2=Freund|first2=Paul A.|date=1965|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|publisher=Fordham University Press|location=New York City|page=97|lccn=65-14917|access-date=July 12, 2018|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120053125/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 1865, the conspirators in the [[assassination of Abraham Lincoln]] planned, but failed, to assassinate Vice President [[Andrew Johnson]] and Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] as well. Had Johnson also been killed, Senate President pro tempore [[Lafayette S. Foster]] would have become acting president.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feinman|first=Ronald L.|title=These 11 People Came Close to Being President of the United States ...|url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161656|date=March 22, 2016|publisher=History News Network|location=Seattle, Washington|access-date=July 4, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220143/https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161656|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 1868, after President [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|Andrew Johnson was impeached]] by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], the [[United States Senate|Senate]] came one vote short of removing Johnson from office in [[Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson|his impeachment trial]]. Had he been removed, President pro tempore [[Benjamin Wade]] would have become acting president, as the vice-presidency remained vacant after Johnson succeeded to the presidency.<ref name=ARA1995VDA>{{cite journal <!-- Citation bot bypass-->|last=Amar |first=Akhil Reed |last2=Amar |first2=Vikram David |title=Is the Presidential Succession Law Constitutional? |journal=Stanford Law Review R |volume=48 |issue=1 |date=November 1995 |issn=0038-9765 |doi=10.2307/1229151 |pages=113–139 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/991/}}</ref>

As a consequence of the sometimes lengthy vacancies in the office of vice president, the person serving as president pro tempore of the Senate garnered heightened importance, for although he did not assume the vice presidency, he was then next in line for the presidency.<ref name=JT10th>{{cite web|title=John Tyler, Tenth Vice President (1841)|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_John_Tyler.htm|publisher=Office of the Secretary, United States Senate| location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=June 30, 2018}}</ref> Several who served during these vacancies were referred to informally as "Acting Vice President".<ref>{{cite web|title=Lafayette Foster|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Sculpture_21_00006.htm|work=Art & History|publisher=Secretary of the Senate|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=July 12, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220234/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/art/artifact/Sculpture_21_00006.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Presidential Succession Act of 1886==
The death of President [[James A. Garfield]] on September 19, 1881—after his lengthy incapacity following an assassination attempt—resulted in Vice President [[Chester A. Arthur]] ascending to the presidency.  Upon Arthur becoming president, the offices of vice president, president pro tempore of the Senate, and speaker of the House of Representatives were vacant.

However, a new president pro tempore of the Senate was named on October 10, 1881, and a new speaker of the House of Representatives was named in December 1881.<ref name=65FFH140146>{{cite book|title=From Failing Hands: the Story of Presidential Succession|last1=Feerick|first1=John D.|last2=Freund|first2=Paul A.|date=1965|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|publisher=Fordham University Press|location=New York City|pages=140–146|lccn=65-14917|access-date=July 12, 2018|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120053125/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|url-status=live}}</ref> 

In 1884, [[Grover Cleveland]] was elected president, with [[Thomas A. Hendricks]] being elected vice president. Hendricks' death in November 1885, just eight months into his term, once again left no direct successor, which forced Congress to address the inadequacies of the 1792 Succession Act.<ref>{{cite book|title=Harper's Book of Facts: a Classified History of the World; Embracing Science, Literature, and Art|last1=Lewis|first1=Charlton Thomas|last2=Willsey|first2=Joseph H.|year=1895|publisher=Harper & Brothers|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/harpersbookfact00willgoog/page/n392 884]|url=https://archive.org/details/harpersbookfact00willgoog|quote=country without any one in the line of succession.|access-date=April 24, 2011|lccn=01020386}}</ref>

A bill to transfer the succession from congressional officers to members of the Cabinet was introduced in the Senate by [[George Frisbie Hoar|George Hoar]] in 1882. It was passed by the Senate the following year, but failed in the House. Hoar laid out several reasons why the succession statute needed to be changed: among them, that the four-year term of a president elected in a special election might be out of sync with the congressional election cycle, resulting in "confusion and trouble". He also pointed out the negative constitutional and practical implications of having the president pro tempore and the speaker in the line of succession. To buttress this argument, he pointed out that since the federal government began operations 96 years earlier in 1789, six secretaries of state had gone on to be elected president, serving in that office for 36 of those 96 years.<ref name=Hamlin1905HLR/>{{efn-ua|The six secretaries of state who had become president were: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Q. Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan. John Tyler was the only president pro tempore to become president, and James K. Polk the only Speaker.<ref name=65FFH140146/>}} Reintroduced shortly after the death of Vice President Hendricks, Senator Hoar's bill was passed by the Senate after vigorous debate, in December 1885, and by the House one month later. It became law on January 19, 1886, with President Cleveland's signature.<ref name=65FFH140146/>

The Presidential Succession Act of 1886 ({{Cws|title=Full text|link=Presidential Succession Act 1886|nobullet=yes}}) substituted the Cabinet secretaries—listed in the order in which their department was created—for the President pro tempore and Speaker in the line of succession. It provided that in case of the removal, death, resignation or inability of both the President and Vice President, such officer would "act as President until the disability of the President or Vice-President is removed or a President shall be elected."

It mandated that if Congress were not then in session nor due to meet within twenty days, the acting president was to call a [[special session]] of Congress, giving no less than twenty days' notice. It also stipulated that for a member of the Cabinet to act as president, he had to have been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and be eligible to the office of president, and not under impeachment. This last provision also repealed the 1792 Act's provision for a double-vacancy special election.<ref name=65FFH140146/><ref name=Hamlin1905HLR/>

===Potential implementation===
{{see also|United States presidential line of succession#Under the 1886 succession act}}

While it never became necessary to invoke the 1886 Act, the vice presidency was vacant at the time of its adoption, and would become vacant five more times during the 61 years that it was in effect:<ref name=VP-PS/>
* November 21, 1899{{snd}}March 4, 1901 ({{ayd|1899|11|21|1901|03|04}}) following the death of [[Garret Hobart]].
* September 14, 1901{{snd}}March 4, 1905 ({{ayd|1901|09|14|1905|03|04}}) following the accession of [[Theodore Roosevelt]] to the presidency.
* October 30, 1912{{snd}}March 4, 1913 ({{ayd|1912|10|30|1913|03|04}}) following the death of [[James S. Sherman]].
* August 2, 1923{{snd}}March 4, 1925 ({{ayd|1923|08|02|1925|03|04}}) following the accession of [[Calvin Coolidge]] to the presidency.
* April 12, 1945{{snd}}January 20, 1949 ({{ayd|1945|04|12|1949|01|20}}) following the accession of [[Harry S. Truman]] to the presidency.

Had the president died, resigned, been removed from office or been disabled during one of these vacancies, the secretary of state would have become the acting president. Although such circumstances never arose, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] apparently drew up a plan (given the turmoil of [[World War I]]) whereby, if his Republican opponent [[Charles Evans Hughes]] had won the [[1916 United States presidential election|1916 election]], then Wilson would have dismissed his secretary of state, [[Robert Lansing]], and [[Recess appointment|recess-appointed]] Hughes to the post before Wilson and Vice President [[Thomas R. Marshall]] both resigned, thus allowing [[President-elect of the United States|President-elect]] Hughes to serve as acting president until his March 4, 1917 [[United States presidential inauguration|inauguration]]. Wilson's narrow victory over Hughes rendered the plan moot.<ref>Arthur S. Link and William M. Leary Jr., "Election of 1916" in Israel, Fred L., Arthur M. Schlesinger, and Gil Troy. 2012. ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2008''. New York: Facts on File, Inc, 2012. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed August 27, 2017), p. 929.</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=Michael W.|title=If Woodrow Wilson had lost the 1916 election|url=http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/theoryandpractice/2013/10/if_woodrow_wilson_had_lost_the.html|work=Political theory and practice: Thinking and doing|publisher=The University of Sydney, Australia|date=October 22, 2013|access-date=June 20, 2018|archive-date=June 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608031215/http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/theoryandpractice/2013/10/if_woodrow_wilson_had_lost_the.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Also of note is that [[1940 United States presidential election|1940]] Republican presidential nominee [[Wendell Willkie]] and vice presidential nominee [[Charles L. McNary]] both died in 1944 (October 8, and February 25, respectively), the first (and {{as of|lc=y|2023}} only) time both members of a major-party presidential ticket died during the term for which they sought election. Had they been elected, Willkie's death would have resulted in the secretary of state becoming acting president for the remainder of the term ending on January 20, 1945.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brewer|first=F.|date=1945|title=Succession to the presidency|work=Editorial research reports 1945 (Vol. II)|publisher=CQ Press|location=Washington, D.C.|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1945092000|url-access=registration|access-date=July 12, 2018|quote=If the Republican ticket had been elected in 1940, the plan of succession adopted in 1886 would probably have come into operation for the first time in 1944. Charles McNary, Republican candidate for Vice President, died on Feb. 25, 1944, With the death of Wendell Willkie, on Oct. 8, his Secretary of State would have been sworn in for the remainder of the term ending on Jan. 20, 1945.|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220146/http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1945092000|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Feinman|first=Ronald L.|title=The Election of 1940 and the Might-Have-Been that Makes One Shudder|url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161880|date=March 1, 2016|publisher=[[History News Network]]|access-date=July 13, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220302/https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161880|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Presidential Succession Act of 1947==
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle = Presidential Succession Act of 1947
| longtitle = An Act To provide for the performance of the duties of the office of President in case of the removal, resignation, death, or inability both of the President and Vice President.
| enacted by = 80th
| effective date = July 18, 1947
| cite public law = {{USPL|80|199}}
| cite statutes at large = {{USStat|61|380}}
| acts repealed = Presidential Succession Act of 1886 ({{USPL|49|4|}}, Session 1; {{USStat|24|1}})
| title amended = [[Title 3 of the United States Code|U.S. Code: Title 3{{snd}}The President]]
| sections created = § 24; now {{usc|3|19}} by Act of Congress June 25, 1948 ({{USStat|62|672}})
| sections amended = §§ 21 and 22 (1940 edition)
| introducedin = Senate
| introducedbill = {{USBill|80|S.|564}}
| introducedby = [[Kenneth S. Wherry]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]–[[Nebraska|NE]])<ref name=65FFH206210>{{cite book|title=From Failing Hands: the Story of Presidential Succession|last1=Feerick|first1=John D.|last2=Freund|first2=Paul A.|date=1965|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|publisher=Fordham University Press|location=New York City|pages=206–210|lccn=65-14917|access-date=July 12, 2018|archive-date=November 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120053125/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=twentyfifth_amendment_books|url-status=live}}</ref>
| introduceddate = 
| passedbody1 = Senate
| passeddate1 = June 27, 1947
| passedvote1 = 50 to 35<ref name=65FFH206210/>
| passedbody2 = House
| passeddate2 = July 10, 1947
| passedvote2 = 365 to 11<ref name=65FFH206210/>
| signedpresident = [[Harry S. Truman]]
| signeddate = July 18, 1947<ref name=65FFH206210/>
| amendments = Modifications to § 19 (d)(1):{{bulleted list|item_style= line-height:1.3em;margin:0
|{{USPL|80|253}}, § 311; {{USStat|61|509}} (1947)
|{{USPL|89|174}}, § 6(a); {{USStat|79|669}} (1965)
|{{USPL|89|670}}, § 10(a); {{USStat|80|948}} (1966)
|{{USPL|91|375}} § 6(b); {{USStat|84|775}} (1970)
|{{USPL|95|91}}, title VII, § 709(g); {{USStat|91|609}} (1977)
|{{USPL|96|88}}, title V, § 508(a); {{USStat|93|692}} (1979)
|{{USPL|100|527}}, § 13(a); {{USStat|102|2643}} (1988)
|{{USPL|109|177}}, title V, § 503; {{USStat|120|247}} (2006)}}
}}

In June 1945, two months after becoming president upon [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s death, Harry S. Truman sent a message to Congress urging the revision of the Presidential Succession Act of 1886. He recommended that the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate be restored to, and given priority in, the presidential line of succession over members of the Cabinet. The arrangement reflected Truman's belief that the president should not have the power to appoint to office "the person who would be my immediate successor in the event of my own death or inability to act", and that the presidency should, whenever possible, "be filled by an elective officer". Cabinet officials are appointed by the president, whereas the speaker and the president pro tempore are elected officials.{{efn-ua|"When President Roosevelt died in office, April 12, 1945, and was succeeded by Vice President Truman, the man next in line of succession to the presidency was Edward R. Stettinius, Jr., then Secretary of State. Next after Stettinius came Henry Morgenthau, Jr., then Secretary of the Treasury. Neither had ever held an elective office; neither commanded any considerable following among the people. This was the situation when President Truman sent a special message to Congress, June 19, urging early revision of the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 'in the interest of orderly, democratic government'."<ref>{{cite web| title=Succession to the Presidency: Call for Change in Law of Succession| date=September 20, 1945| url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1945092000| publisher=CQ Press| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=November 17, 2019| archive-date=January 14, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220205/http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1945092000| url-status=live}}</ref>}} He also recommended that a provision be made for election of a new president and vice president should vacancies in both of those offices occur more than three months before the [[United States midterm election|midterm congressional elections]].<ref name=CRS2005continuity/><ref name=39HLR3/><ref>{{cite web|last=Truman|first=Harry S.|title=Special Message to the Congress on the Succession to the Presidency|date=June 19, 1945|others=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/231982|access-date=November 19, 2019|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220228/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-the-congress-the-succession-the-presidency|url-status=live}}</ref>

A bill incorporating the president's proposal was introduced in the House on June 25, 1945, by [[Hatton W. Sumners]] and approved—minus the special election provision—four days later by a wide margin. The measure was forwarded to the Senate, which took no action on it during the balance of the [[79th United States Congress|79th Congress]]. Truman renewed his request in 1947, when the [[80th United States Congress|80th Congress]] convened following the [[United States elections, 1946|1946 midterm elections]]. Early in 1947, Senator [[Kenneth S. Wherry]] introduced a bill in the Senate which, like the previous 1945 version, put the speaker and the president pro tempore second and third in the succession order respectively, and contained no provision for a special election. After considerable debate the measure was approved on June 27, 1947, by a vote of 50 to 35. Forwarded to the House, the legislation engendered little debate, and was passed on July 10 by a vote of 365 to 11. President Truman signed the bill into law on July 18.<ref name=65FFH206210/>

The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 ({{Cws|title=Full text|link=Presidential Succession Act 1947|nobullet=yes}}) restored the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate to the line of succession—in reverse order from their positions in the 1792 act—and placed them ahead of the members of the Cabinet, who are positioned once more in the order of the establishment of their department: [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]], [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|secretary of the treasury]], [[United States Secretary of War|secretary of war]], [[United States Attorney General|attorney general]], [[United States Postmaster General|postmaster general]], [[United States Secretary of the Navy|secretary of the navy]], and [[United States Secretary of the Interior|secretary of the interior]]. Three Cabinet secretaries were added to the lineup, reflecting the creation of three Cabinet-level departments post-1886: [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|secretary of agriculture]], [[United States Secretary of Commerce|secretary of commerce]], and [[United States Secretary of Labor|secretary of labor]].<ref name=wftvAPOTUS>{{cite web|title=A president resigns, dies or is impeached: What is the line of succession?|website=wftv.com|last=Lord|first=Debbie|url=https://www.wftv.com/news/trending-now/a-president-resigns-dies-or-is-impeached-what-is-the-line-of-succession/772080208|publisher=Cox Media Group|date=June 18, 2018|access-date=July 9, 2018|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111175501/https://www.wftv.com/news/trending-now/a-president-resigns-dies-or-is-impeached-what-is-the-line-of-succession/772080208/|url-status=live}}</ref> The act stipulates, that in order for either the speaker or the president pro tempore to become acting president, he or she must meet the requirements for presidential eligibility, and must, prior to acting as president, resign from office, including from Congress.

Like the 1886 act, this statute specifies that only Cabinet members who are constitutionally eligible to the office of president, and not under impeachment by the House at the time the powers and duties of the presidency devolve upon them, may become the acting president. However, unlike the 1886 act, this statute mandates that any Cabinet officer who accedes to the powers and duties of the presidency resign their Cabinet post.<ref name=ARA1995VDA/> It also contains a clause stipulating that any Cabinet officer acting as president may be "bumped" from office (supplanted) by a qualified individual higher up the line of succession, a provision not contained in either of the earlier succession acts.<ref name=Neale2005CRS>{{cite web|last=Neale|first=Thomas H.|title=Presidential Succession: An Overview with Analysis of Legislation Proposed in the 109th Congress|work=CRS Report for Congress|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32969.pdf|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]], the [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=June 29, 2005|access-date=July 9, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194624/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32969.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1886 and 1947 acts diverge in one other way. The 1886 act describes "such officers as shall have been appointed by the advice and consent of the Senate to the offices therein named" as being eligible to serve as acting president, whereas the 1947 act describes "officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate" as being eligible.<ref name=Neale2005CRS/> The less explicit 1947 language raises the question of whether acting secretaries are in the line of succession. The [[Nonpartisanism in the United States|nonpartisan]] [[Continuity of Government Commission]], in a 2009 report, said "[r]ead literally, this means that the current act allows for acting secretaries to be in the line of succession as long as they are confirmed by the Senate for a post (even for example, the second or third in command within a department)."<ref name=CoG2009report>{{cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2009/06_continuity_of_government/06_continuity_of_government.pdf|title=The Continuity of the Presidency: The Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission|series=Preserving Our Institutions|page=34|publisher=Continuity of Government Commission|location=Washington, D.C.|date=June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060729/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2009/7/06%20continuity%20of%20government/06_continuity_of_government.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|via=WebCite|access-date=May 23, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Although a case for their inclusion can be made, it is not clear whether acting secretaries are indeed in the line of succession.<ref name=IIFC50post25th>{{cite journal|title=Second Fordham University School of Law Clinic on Presidential Succession, Fifty Years After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Recommendations for Improving the Presidential Succession System|journal=Fordham Law Review|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5454&context=flr|volume=86|issue=3|year=2017|pages=917–1025|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220156/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5454&context=flr|url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1947 act established that a person who becomes an acting president under the act will earn the same compensation given to the president.<ref name=39HLR3/> Additionally, based on authority granted by Section 3 of the [[Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twentieth Amendment]], the act applies to situations where the president-elect, alone or together with the vice president-elect, fails to meet the qualifications for the office of president. Based on that same authority, the act also applies to situations in which there is neither a president-elect nor a vice president-elect on [[United States presidential inauguration|Inauguration Day]].<ref name=CoG2009report/>

===Revisions===
The 1947 act has been modified by a series of incidental amendments to reflect the creation of new federal departments.<ref name=Neale2004CRS/> Less than two weeks after the Act was enacted, Truman signed the [[National Security Act of 1947]] into law. This statute (in part) merged the [[United States Department of War|Department of War]] (renamed as the [[Department of the Army]]) and the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] into the National Military Establishment (renamed [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] in 1949), headed by the [[United States Secretary of Defense|secretary of defense]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A Look Back ... The National Security Act of 1947|work=News & Information|date=July 31, 2008|url=https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/national-security-act-of-1947.html|publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|location=Langley, Virginia|access-date=July 9, 2018|archive-date=May 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508181632/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/national-security-act-of-1947.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> It also included a provision substituting the secretary of defense for the secretary of war in the line of succession and striking out the secretary of the navy.

In 1953, a new Cabinet department was created; this led to the creation of a new position behind the secretary of labor in the line of succession: the [[United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare|secretary of health, education and welfare]]. In 1965, another new Cabinet department was created; the [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|secretary of housing and urban development]] joined the line of succession. The [[United States Secretary of Transportation|secretary of transportation]] was added the following year. In 1970 and 1977, respectively, the [[United States Postmaster General|postmaster general]] was removed as a result of the [[Postal Reorganization Act]], and the [[United States Secretary of Energy|secretary of energy]] was inserted at the end of the list. In 1979, when the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was divided by the [[Department of Education Organization Act]], its secretary was replaced in the order of succession by the [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|secretary of health and human services]], and the new [[United States Secretary of Education|secretary of education]] was added in the last position. In 1988 and 2006, respectively, the [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|secretary of veterans affairs]] and then the [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security|secretary of homeland security]] were added, becoming the 16th and 17th statutory successors (including the vice president) to the powers and duties of the presidency.<ref name=39HLR3/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/codes/us/2016/title-3/chapter-1/sec.-19/|title=2016 US Code Title 3 – The President Chapter 1 – Presidential Elections and Vacancies Sec. 19 – Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act|work=US Law|publisher=Justia|location=Mountain View, California|access-date=July 8, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220247/https://law.justia.com/codes/us/2016/title-3/chapter-1/sec.-19/|url-status=live}}</ref>

When the Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002, the [[Homeland Security Act|act]] creating it did not contain a provision adding the new department's secretary into the line of presidential succession. Secretaries of newly created cabinet-level departments are not automatically included, but must be specifically incorporated.<ref name=Neale2004CRS/> Companion bills to include the secretary of homeland security (SHS) in the line of succession were introduced in the [[108th United States Congress|108th Congress]] (in 2003) and again in the [[109th United States Congress|109th]] (in 2005) by Senator [[Mike DeWine]] and Representative [[Tom Davis (Virginia politician)|Tom Davis]]. Both bills strayed from tradition, however, by proposing to place the SHS in the line of succession directly after the attorney general (rather than at the end of the line). Proponents of placing the SHS high in the order of succession (eighth overall, as opposed to seventeenth) argued that, given the department's many responsibilities in the areas of security and national preparedness, the officer responsible for disaster relief and security could be expected to possess the relevant knowledge and expertise to capably function as acting president following a catastrophic event; the same could not be said of every cabinet secretary. Referred to committee, no action was taken on these proposals.<ref name=Neale2005CRS/> The matter remained unresolved until March 2006, when the [[USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act]] added the secretary of homeland security to the presidential line of succession, at the end.<ref name=CNN10242017>{{cite news|title=Succession: Presidential and Vice Presidential Fast Facts|website=cnn.com|date=October 24, 2017|url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/succession-presidential-and-vice-presidential-fast-facts/index.html|access-date=July 9, 2018|archive-date=July 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724045906/https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/us/succession-presidential-and-vice-presidential-fast-facts/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Potential invocations===
{{see also|United States presidential line of succession#Under the 1947 succession act}}
While it has not become necessary to invoke the 1947 Act, the vice presidency was vacant at the time of its adoption, and has been vacant three more times since:<ref name=VP-PS/>
* November 22, 1963{{snd}}January 20, 1965 ({{ayd|1963|11|22|1965|01|20}}) following [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] succeeding to the presidency
* October 10, 1973{{snd}}December 6, 1973 ({{ayd|1973|10|10|1973|12|06}}) following [[Spiro Agnew]] resigning the vice presidency
* August 9, 1974{{snd}}December 19, 1974 ({{ayd|1974|08|09|1974|12|19}}) following [[Gerald Ford]] succeeding to the presidency

Had the president died, resigned, been removed from office, or been disabled during one of these vacancies the speaker of the House would have become acting president. The nation faced the prospect of such a double-vacancy in the autumn of 1973. With the future of [[Richard Nixon]]'s presidency in doubt on account of the [[Watergate scandal]], and with the vice presidency vacant following Spiro Agnew's resignation, there was a possibility that Speaker of the House [[Carl Albert]] might become acting president.<ref name=AlbertWasReady>{{cite news|title=Speaker Albert Was Ready to Be President|last=Gup|first=Ted|date=November 28, 1982|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/11/28/speaker-albert-was-ready-to-be-president/84ebaa61-9cf1-4817-836e-a993e7e0e980/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 7, 2018}}</ref> Recourse in this case to the 1947 Act was not necessary, because Section 2 of the [[Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-fifth Amendment]], ratified only six years earlier, established a mechanism for filling an intra-term vice presidential vacancy, and [[House Minority Leader]] Ford was appointed. As a result, rather than Speaker Albert becoming acting president when Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Vice President Ford became president on that date.<ref name=AlbertWasReady/>

The Twenty-fifth Amendment also established a procedure for responding to presidential disabilities whereby a vice president could assume the powers and duties of the presidency as acting president. Its procedures for declaring a temporary disability have been invoked on four occasions by three presidents.<ref>{{cite news| last=Sullivan| first=Kate| title=For 85 minutes, Kamala Harris became the first woman with presidential power| date=November 19, 2021| url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/19/politics/kamala-harris-presidential-power/index.html| work=[[CNN]]| access-date=November 19, 2021}}</ref>

During the [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks]], the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] carried out its [[United States federal government continuity of operations|plan]] for ensuring the [[continuity of government]], which in part called for gathering up persons in the presidential line of succession and taking them to a [[Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center|secure location]], to guarantee that at least one officer in the line of succession would survive the attacks.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-presidents-story-11-09-2002/|title=The President's Story|author=David Kohn|date=September 11, 2002|publisher=[[CBS News]]|access-date=July 8, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220202/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-presidents-story-11-09-2002/|url-status=live}}</ref> Speaker of the House [[Dennis Hastert]] and several other congressional leaders went;<ref>{{cite web|title=Can I Actually Close Down Congress?|date=September 11, 2013|url=http://history.house.gov/Blog/2013/September/9-11-Hastert/|work=Oral History|publisher=Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220153/https://history.house.gov/Blog/2013/September/9-11-Hastert/|url-status=live}}</ref> President pro tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd did not, choosing instead to be taken to his [[Capitol Hill]] home. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Transportation [[Norman Mineta]] went into an underground bunker at the White House; a few Cabinet members were out of the country that day.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arkin|first1=William M.|last2=Windrem|first2=Robert|title=Secrets of 9/11: New Details of Chaos, Nukes Emerge|date=September 11, 2016|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/9-11-anniversary/secrets-9-11-new-details-chaos-nukes-emerge-n645711|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=November 6, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220239/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/9-11-anniversary/secrets-9-11-new-details-chaos-nukes-emerge-n645711|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Designated successor===
There is a long history, dating back to the [[Cold War]] era,<ref name=USAT13018survivor>{{cite news|last1=Jackson|first1=David|last2=Korte|first2=Gregory|title=Sonny Perdue is Trump's 'designated survivor' for State of the Union 2018|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/30/sonny-perdue-trumps-designated-survivor-state-union-2018/1079325001/|date=January 30, 2018|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220230/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/30/sonny-perdue-trumps-designated-survivor-state-union-2018/1079325001/|url-status=live}}</ref> of keeping a [[Designated survivor|designated successor]] away from events at which numerous high-ranking federal officers—including the president, vice president, congressional leaders, and Cabinet members—will be gathered. This is done to ensure that there is always someone available to assume the reins of government if all the other officers are killed at the event. For example, Secretary of Agriculture [[Sonny Perdue]] was the Cabinet member so designated when President [[Donald Trump]] delivered his [[2018 State of the Union Address]]. Perdue was taken to a secure location several hours beforehand, and remained there throughout the event. Although any cabinet secretary could be selected, the person appointed has usually come from one of the newer departments low in the line of succession.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ortiz|first=Erik|title=Designated survivors recount nights as doomsday presidents|date=January 30, 2018|orig-year=February 28, 2017|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2018-state-of-the-union-address/designated-survivors-recount-nights-doomsday-presidents-n720691|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=July 10, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220152/https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2018-state-of-the-union-address/designated-survivors-recount-nights-doomsday-presidents-n720691|url-status=live}}</ref> The person chosen must also meet the constitutional requirements to serve as president.<ref name=USAT13018survivor/>

===Constitutionality===
The 1947 act has been widely criticized over the years as unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fleming|first=James E.|title=Presidential Succession: The Art of the Possible|journal=Fordham Law Review|volume=79|issue=3|pages=951–958|year=2011|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.bing.com/&httpsredir=1&article=4696&context=flr|access-date=July 11, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220159/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=4696&context=flr|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Akhil Amar]], who is a [[Jurist|legal scholar]] in [[constitutional law]], has called it "a disastrous statute, an accident waiting to happen".<ref>{{cite web|last=Ornstein|first=Norman J.|title=It's Armageddon: Who's in Charge Here?|work=AEI |url=http://www.aei.org/publication/its-armageddon/|publisher=American Enterprise Institute|location=Washington, D.C.|date=February 9, 2004|access-date=July 11, 2018}}</ref> There are two main areas of concern.

====Meaning of "officer"====
There are concerns regarding the constitutionality of having members of Congress in the line of succession. The Constitution's Succession Clause—[[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 6: Vacancy and disability|Article II, Section 1, Clause 6]]—specifies that only an "Officer" may be designated as a presidential successor. Constitutional scholars from [[James Madison]] to the present day have argued that the term "Officer" refers to an "[[Officer of the United States]]", a term of art that excludes members of Congress. During a September 2003 joint hearing before the U.S. Senate's [[United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration|Committee on Rules and Administration]] and [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Committee on the Judiciary]], [[M. Miller Baker]] said:

{{quote|The 1947 Act is probably unconstitutional because it appears that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate are not "Officers" eligible to act as President within the meaning of the Succession Clause. This is because in referring to an "Officer", the Succession Clause, taken in its context in Section&nbsp;1 of Article&nbsp;II, probably refers to an "Officer of the United States", a term of art under the Constitution, rather than any officer, which would include legislative and state officers referred to in the Constitution (e.g.,&nbsp;the reference to state militia officers found in Article&nbsp;I, Section&nbsp;8). In the very next section of Article&nbsp;II, the President is empowered to "require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments" and to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, "Officers of the United States". These are the "Officers" to whom the Succession Clause probably refers. This contextual reading is confirmed by Madison's notes from the Constitutional Convention, which reveal that the Convention's Committee of Style, which had no authority to make substantive changes, substituted "Officer" in the Succession Clause in place of "Officer of the United States", probably because the Committee considered the full phrase redundant.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2003_h/030916-baker.htm|title=Ensuring the Continuity of the United States Government: The Presidency|date=September 16, 2003|series=Prepared Statement of M. Miller Baker, Joint Hearing Before the Committee on Rules and Administration and the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate|access-date=July 11, 2018|via=GlobalSecurity.org|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220209/https://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2003_h/030916-baker.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In "Is the Presidential Succession Law Constitutional?", Akhil Amar and [[Vikram Amar]] refer to the [[Ineligibility Clause|Incompatibility Clause]] (Article&nbsp;I, Section&nbsp;6, Clause&nbsp;2)—which bars officials in the federal government's executive branch from simultaneously serving in either the U.S. House or Senate—as evidence that members of the Congress cannot be in the Presidential line of succession.<ref name=ARA1995VDA/>

====Bumping====
The current act is also controversial because it provides that an officer who is acting as president due to the disability or failure to qualify of an officer higher in the order of succession does so only until the other officer's disability or disqualification is removed. If this happens, the previously entitled officer can "bump" the person then acting as president.<ref name=Neale2005CRS/> During testimony in 2004 before the [[United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice]], Akhil Reed Amar stated that this provision violates "the Succession Clause, which says that an officer named by Congress shall 'act as President ... until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected{{'"}}.<ref name=ARA2004Housetestimony>{{cite web|url=http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju96287.000/hju96287_0.htm#0|title=2004 Presidential Succession Act|date=October 6, 2004|series=Hearing Before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, Second Session|publisher=House of Representatives|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=July 11, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220207/http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju96287.000/hju96287_0.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In its 2009 report, the [[Continuity of Government Commission]] argued that as well as going against the language of the Constitution, bumping violates the doctrine of [[Separation of powers under the United States Constitution|separation of powers]] by undermining the independence of the executive from the Congress:

{{quote|The Constitution on its face seems to stipulate that once a person is deemed to be acting president by the Presidential Succession Act, he or she cannot be replaced by a different person. This interpretation makes some logical sense as the provision would presumably prevent the confusion that would arise if the presidency were transferred to several different individuals in a short period of time. It would also seemingly prevent Congress from exercising influence on the executive branch by threatening to replace a cabinet member acting as president with a newly elected Speaker of the House.<ref name=CoG2009report/>}}

On a practical level, it has been argued that this provision could result in there being multiple acting presidents in a short period of time during a national crisis and weaken the public legitimacy of successors.<ref name=IIFC50post25th/><ref name=ARA2004Housetestimony/> In a January 2011 ''[[Roll Call]]'' [[op-ed]], Representative [[Brad Sherman]] wrote,

{{quote|[The bumping provision] creates a game of [[musical chairs]] with the presidency and would cause great instability. In a time of national crisis, the nation needs to know who its president is.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sherman|first=Brad|author-link=Brad Sherman|title=Serious Flaws Exist in Our Presidential Succession Laws|date=January 31, 2011|url=https://sherman.house.gov/media-center/opinion-editorials/serious-flaws-exist-in-our-presidential-succession-laws|publisher=www.sherman.house.gov|orig-year=January 28, 2011, ''[[Roll Call]]''|access-date=July 23, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220208/https://sherman.house.gov/media-center/opinion-editorials/serious-flaws-exist-in-our-presidential-succession-laws|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

==Table of statutory successors==

{| class="wikitable"
! style="color: #002466;" colspan=3|{{big|Statutory presidential successors}}<br>[[File:Seal of the President of the United States.svg|35px]]
|-
! style="color: #002466;"|Succession Act of 1792<ref>{{cite web|last=Glass|first=Andrew|title=Congress passes presidential succession act: Feb. 20, 1792|date=February 19, 2016|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/congress-passes-presidential-succession-act-feb-20-1792-219381|publisher=Politico|access-date=July 28, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220233/https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/congress-passes-presidential-succession-act-feb-20-1792-219381|url-status=live}}</ref>
! style="color:#002466"|Succession Act of 1886<ref>{{cite web|last=Feinman|first=Ronald L.|title=The Dire Need For A Change In The Presidential Succession Act Of 1947|date=October 5, 2015|url=http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=25608|work=TheProgressiveProfessor|access-date=July 14, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220207/http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?p=25608|url-status=live}}</ref>
! style="color:#002466;"|Succession Act of 1947 {{small|(''as amended'')}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Mount|first=Steve|title=Constitutional Topic: Presidential Line of Succession|url=https://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_succ.html|website=ussconstitution.net|access-date=July 20, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220203/https://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_succ.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-style="vertical-align: top;"
| style="background: white;"|{{nowrap|• [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore of the Senate]]}}<br>• [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]
| style="background: white;"|• [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]<br>{{nowrap|• [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]}}<br>• [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]]<br>• [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]]<br>• [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]]<br>• [[United States Secretary of the Navy|Secretary of the Navy]]<br>• [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]]
| style="background: white;"|• Speaker of the House<br>{{nowrap|• President pro tempore of the Senate}}<br>• Secretary of State<br>• Secretary of the Treasury<br>• Secretary of War, 1947<br>{{space|em}}→ [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]<ref name=WarNavyDefense>{{cite web| title=A Look Back ... The National Security Act of 1947| work=News & Information| date=July 31, 2008| url=https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/national-security-act-of-1947.html| publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]| location=Langley, Virginia| access-date=June 19, 2018| archive-date=May 8, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508181632/https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/national-security-act-of-1947.html| url-status=dead}}</ref><br>• Attorney General<br>• Postmaster General, 1947–1970<ref>{{cite web|title=A brief history of the US Postal Service: How did the US Postal Service become what it is today?|url=http://americanpostalowners.com/usps-history|website=americanpostalowners.com|publisher=American Postal Owners|location=Rhinebeck, New York|access-date=August 1, 2018}}</ref><br>• Secretary of the Navy, 1947<ref name=WarNavyDefense/><br>• Secretary of the Interior<br>• [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]]<br>• [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]]<br>• [[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]]<br>• [[United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare|Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare]], 1965–1979<br>{{space|em}}→ [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|Secretary of Health and Human Services]]<ref>{{cite web| title=HHS Historical Highlights| date=June 19, 2006| url=https://www.hhs.gov/about/historical-highlights/index.html| publisher=U.S. Department of Health & Human Services| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=June 20, 2018| archive-date=January 14, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114220205/https://www.hhs.gov/about/historical-highlights/index.html| url-status=live}}</ref><br>• [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]], since 1965<br>• [[United States Secretary of Transportation|Secretary of Transportation]], since 1966<br>• [[United States Secretary of Energy|Secretary of Energy]], since 1977<br>• [[United States Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]], since 1979<br>• [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|Secretary of Veterans Affairs]], since 1988<br>• [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security|Secretary of Homeland Security]], since 2006
|}

==Notes==
{{notelist-ua|30em}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* Baker, M. Miller (December 1, 2001). [https://fedsoc.org/commentary/publications/fools-drunkards-presidential-succession "Fools, Drunkards, & Presidential Succession"]. [[Federalist Society]].
* Feerick, John D. (2011). [https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4695&context=flr "Presidential Succession and Inability: Before and After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment"]. ''[[Fordham Law Review]]''. '''79''' (3): 907–949. Also available [https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol79/iss3/8 here].
* Neale, Thomas H. (October 3, 2008). [https://2016election.procon.org/sourcefiles/crs_report_presidential_sucession.pdf ''Presidential Succession: Perspectives, Contemporary Analysis, and 110th Congress Proposed Legislation'']. [[Congressional Research Service]] Report for Congress. RL34692.
* Whitney, Gleaves (2004). [https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ask_gleaves/57/ "Presidential Succession"]. ''Ask Gleaves''. Paper 57. [[Grand Valley State University]].
* MacArthur, Tim (January 9, 2019). [https://mvets.law.gmu.edu/2019/01/09/presidential-succession-an-unsolved-national-security-risk/ "Presidential Succession: An Unsolved National Security Risk"]. Mason Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic.

{{US presidential line of succession}}
{{Portal bar|Law|Politics|United States}}

[[Category:1792 in American law]]
[[Category:1886 in American law]]
[[Category:1947 in American law]]
[[Category:2nd United States Congress]]
[[Category:49th United States Congress]]
[[Category:80th United States Congress]]
[[Category:Continuity of government in the United States]]
[[Category:United States federal government administration legislation]]
[[Category:United States presidential succession|Act]]