Presidential Succession Act

The United States Presidential Succession Act is a federal statute establishing the presidential line of succession.[1] Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution authorizes Congress to enact such a statute:

Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.[2]

Congress has enacted a Presidential Succession Act on three occasions: 1792 (1 Stat. 239), 1886 (24 Stat. 1), and 1947 (61 Stat. 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 has diminished greatly due to the Twenty-fifth Amendment's provision for filling vice presidential vacancies.[3]

  1. ^ "Presidential Succession Act Law and Legal Definition". US Legal System. USLegal. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. ^ "Essays on Article II: Presidential Succession". The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Neale, Thomas H. (September 27, 2004). "Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation" (PDF). CRS Report for Congress. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2018.