So, what if the vice-president dies in office, what are the lines of succession? When Ford was prez, as I remember, he appointed Rockefeller because there was a vacancy (no pun intended)in the vice presidency after Agnew resigned. I don’t remember when the 27th (?) ammendment was passed - after the Ford presidency or before. Wasn’t that about presidential succession? Was it about VICE-presidential succession? And if there are variations and options, what are some interesting scenarios (scenaria? sceneriim?)that might involve the senate? Could we have Dubya selecting someone from one party or the other and then having the governor of that senator’s state replace him with someone of another party to create a majority in the senate, etc… any thoughts?
There is not now, nor has there ever been, any “line of succession” to the Vice-Presidency. Before the 25th Amendment, there was no provision in the Constitution to replace a Vice President, and the office was left vacant for the duration of the term. The 25th Amendment simply says: “When there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.”
With the Senate split 50-50, in theory it could deadlock on a Bush nomination to replace Cheney, since there would be no Vice President to cast a tie-breaking vote. However, as long as Bush nominated someone even remotely acceptable, this wouldn’t happen, since the Democrats would catch too much flak for not allowing the President his choice.
The only manipulation I can think of that Bush could do is nominate a Democratic Senator from a state with a Republican Governer and have him replaced by a Republican to produce a 51-49 majority. But this would be ridiculous, since a Democrat would become president if Bush died, and even if he didn’t a Democrat would have the tie-breaker in the Senate if a Republican should die in a state with a Democratic Governer, or just be split on a controversial issue. It wouldn’t be worth the risk.
The 25th Amendment was passed in 1965, prompted by the fact that there had been a vacancy in the Vice Presidency when Johnson succeeded Kennedy in 1963. Nixon appointed Ford, and Ford appointed Rockefeller, under its provisions.
The 27th Amendment, concerning congressional pay, was proposed in 1789 but not passed until 1992.