# US presidential succession - Is there any feasible outcome that leads to the speaker being pres? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923 "2018-01-05T16:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923/21 "2018-01-05T23:41:33Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > …falls upon the President pro tem (James Earl Jones)–which is controversial, because he is. . . . …“this is CNN.” ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923/22 "2018-01-05T23:49:56Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Keep an eye on Minnesota, to see if this proves to be true. Al Franken, a US senator, resigned. The MN governor appointed the Lt governor to replace him (She was sworn in 2 days ago). The state senate president, next in line for Lt Gov, has stated that she will keep both jobs. It’s all about which party has how big of a control of the MN state senate. One can’t be a member of more than one branch of the _federal_ government at the same time (other than VPOTUS being in the executive & legislative branches). Individual states are free to adopt fusion of powers so long as they maintain a republican form of government. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923/23 "2018-01-06T00:37:07Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > To the extent you’re asking specifically about the [25th Amendment](https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxxv), some clarification is in order. Under no circumstances does the 25th remove the President from office. The President remains the President even if Congress votes that he is incapacitated, and the Vice President simply assumes the powers of the office under the title of Acting President. Arguably, either the Cabinet or Congress can change its mind and vote the President back into capacity and re-assumption of his powers at any time. > > Further, the 25th addresses only the President and contains no provision at all for stripping the Vice President of his powers, either when he is simply Vice President or when he assumes the powers of the Acting President. He can go batshit crazy in the Oval Office as Acting President, and yet the 25th provides no mechanism for stripping him of his powers (except to return them to the President). Even if you assume that “President” as used in the 25th also applies to the Acting President, removal of his powers still requires the concurrence of the Vice President, who at that point presumably is not going to concur in the removal of his powers. Moreover, because there is no vacancy in the offices of President and Vice President, no new Vice President could be appointed. > > Adding all this up, the 25th on its own provides no mechanism for the Speaker to become President. Interesting, did not know that. So what happens if the VP has been impeached or resigned, and no replacement has be appointed? I guess no 25th amendment as it relies on the VP to be invoked? What if he invokes it as his last act as VP? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923/24 "2018-01-06T01:30:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > No, there is no scenario that isn’t wildly imaginative. **[Secretary Of Interior Takes Presidential Oath Of Office](https://politics.theonion.com/secretary-of-interior-takes-presidential-oath-of-office-1819574916)** _“I Still Can’t Believe The President, Vice President, Speaker Of The House, President Pro Tem, Sec. Of State, Sec. Of The Treasury, Sec. Of Defense, And Attorney General Were All In That Hot-Air Balloon,'”_ Says New President Sally Jewell ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923/25 "2018-01-06T01:46:52Z")
The 25th Amendment is not the only word on this. Ever since 1792, there have been a series of laws covering presidential succession. [The current law (amended in 2005)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/19) addresses many of the questions noted above. > [@](#): > > (a) > (1) if, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress, act as President. > (2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or inability of an individual acting as President under this subsection. > (b) If, at the time when under subsection (a) a Speaker is to begin the discharge of the powers and duties of the office of President, there is no Speaker, or the Speaker fails to qualify as Acting President, then the President pro tempore of the Senate shall, upon his resignation as President pro tempore and as Senator, act as President. Since refusal to resign their offices would count as “failure to qualify,” the Speaker and/or President pro tempore would then be passed over and the next person in line would be the Secretary of State. The law also provides that no one currently under impeachment by the House is eligible, and one must meet all the constitutional requirements to be President. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923/26 "2018-01-06T05:16:06Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > One can’t be a member of more than one branch of the _federal_ government at the same time (other than VPOTUS being in the executive & legislative branches). Individual states are free to adopt fusion of powers so long as they maintain a republican form of government. Actually, MN doesn’t allow it either, but the newest Lt. Gov. is arguing that there is precedence for her holding both offices. I figure if she is successful in MN, then someone might try using it at the federal level, if the occasion ever happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-presidential-succession-is-there-any-feasible-outcome-that-leads-to-the-speaker-being-pres/805923.md?page=1)