UNITED STATES 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
(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) of this section 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.
(c) An individual acting as President
under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of this section shall continue to
act until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, except
that -
(1) if his discharge of the powers and duties
of the office is founded in whole or in part on the failure of both the
President-elect and the Vice-President-elect to qualify, then he shall
act only until a President or Vice President qualifies; and
(2) if his discharge of the powers and duties
of the office is founded in whole or in part on the inability of the President
or Vice President, then he shall act only until the removal of the disability
of one of such individuals.
(d) (1) If, by reason of death,
resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there
is no President pro tempore to act as President under subsection (b) of
this section, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the
following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers
and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary
of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General,
Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce,
Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of
Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(2) An individual acting as President under
this subsection shall continue so to do until the expiration of the then
current Presidential term, but not after a qualified and prior-entitled
individual is able to act, except that the removal of the disability of
an individual higher on the list contained in paragraph (1) of this subsection
or the ability to qualify on the part of an individual higher on such list
shall not terminate his service.
(3) The taking of the oath of office by an
individual specified in the list in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall
be held to constitute his resignation from the office by virtue of the
holding of which he qualifies to act as President.
(e) Subsections (a), (b), and
(d) of this section shall apply only to such officers as are eligible to
the office of President under the Constitution. Subsection (d) of this
section shall apply only to officers appointed, by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation,
removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, of the President
pro tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment by the House of
Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of President
devolve upon them.
(f) During the period that `any
individual acts as President under this section, his compensation shall
be at the rate then provided by law in the case of the President. |