Presidential Succession Act

The Presidential Succession Act establishes the line of succession to the powers and duties of the office of President of the United States in the event that neither a President nor Vice President is able to "discharge the powers and duties of the office". The current Presidential Succession Act was adopted in 1947 and is codified at 3 U.S.C. § 19.

Congressional authority to enact such a law is twofold: Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution and Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution.

3 USC § 19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act.

The Presidential Succession Act of 1792 consisted of sections 9 and 10 of a larger federal statute.

Section 9 declared that, in the event of the removal, resignation, death, or inability of both the President and Vice President, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate was next in line of succession after the Vice President, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

If both the President and Vice President were removed, resigned, or died, section 10 required there to be a presidential election in December of the year in which section 9 was invoked (or in December of the next year, if there was less than two months to go until December and the presidential term was not about to expire).

While the 1792 Act was never implemented, there were ten instances when the Vice Presidency was vacant. Had the President died, resigned, been removed from office, or been disabled, the President pro tempore of the Senate would have become the Acting President of the United States:

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