I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2749

To amend section 19 of title 3, United States Code, to allow the President 

to choose between possible successors in case of the event that, by 

reason of certain circumstances, there is neither a President nor Vice 

President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2003

Mr. SHERMAN (for himself, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. FATTAH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL

To amend section 19 of title 3, United States Code, to 

allow the President to choose between possible successors 

in case of the event that, by reason of certain circumstances, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office 

of President, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Succession 

5 Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION. 

2 Section 19 of title 3, United States Code, is amended 

3 to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘§ 19 Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice 

5 President; officers eligible to act 

6 ‘‘(a) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from 

7 office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a 

8 President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and 

9 duties of the office of President, then the highest indi10 vidual on the succession list who is eligible to the office 

11 of President under the Constitution, not under disability 

12 to discharge the powers and duties of the office of Presi13 dent, and not disqualified under subsection (f), shall act 

14 as President. 

15 ‘‘(b) An individual acting as President under this sec16 tion shall continue to so act until the expiration of the 

17 then current Presidential term except that—

18 ‘‘(1) if his discharge of the powers and duties 

19 of the office is founded in whole or in part on the 

20 failure of both the President-elect and the Vice21 President-elect to qualify, then he shall act only 

22 until a President or Vice President qualifies; and 

23 ‘‘(2) if his discharge of the powers and duties 

24 of the office is founded in whole or in part on the 

25 inability of the President or Vice President, then he 
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1 shall act only until the removal of the disability of 

2 one of such individuals. 

3 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘succes4 sion list’ means the following list: the individual holding 

5 the office designated in subsection (d), the individual hold6 ing the office designated in subsection (e), the Secretary 

7 of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of 

8 Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

10 Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 

11 Labor, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 

12 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Sec13 retary of Transportation, the Secretary of Energy, the 

14 Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Veterans Af15 fairs. 

16 ‘‘(d)(1) The President shall submit to the Clerk of 

17 the House of Representatives notification in writing of the 

18 designation of the office of Speaker of the House of Rep19 resentatives or the office of Minority Leader of the House 

20 of Representatives as the office designated for the pur21 poses of this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) The notification submitted by the President pur23 suant to paragraph (1) shall remain in effect until the 

24 President submits a later notification pursuant to para-
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1 graph (1), and shall not be rendered ineffective by the ex2 piration of any Presidential term. 

3 ‘‘(3) Until such time as the President first submits 

4 a notification pursuant to paragraph (1), the office of 

5 Speaker of the House of Representatives is deemed to be 

6 the office designated under this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(4) A person acting as Speaker pro tempore shall 

8 not be treated for purposes of this section as holding the 

9 office of Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

10 ‘‘(e)(1) The President shall submit to the Secretary 

11 of the Senate a notification in writing of the designation 

12 of the office of Majority Leader of the Senate or the office 

13 of Minority Leader of the Senate as the office designated 

14 for the purposes of this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(2) The notification submitted by the President pur16 suant to paragraph (1) shall remain in effect until the 

17 President submits a later notification pursuant to para18 graph (1), and shall not be rendered ineffective by the ex19 piration of any Presidential term. 

20 ‘‘(3) Until such time as the President first submits 

21 a notification pursuant to paragraph (1), the office of Ma22 jority Leader of the Senate is deemed to be the office des23 ignated under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(f) An individual is disqualified to discharge the 

25 powers and duties of the office of President for purposes 
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1 of this section unless such individual, at the time that such 

2 powers and duties devolve upon him, meets the following 

3 requirements: 

4 ‘‘(1) Such individual resigns the office by virtue 

5 of the holding of which he qualifies to act as Presi6 dent. 

7 ‘‘(2) In the case of an individual holding the of8 fice designated in subsection (d), such individual re9 signs as a Representative in Congress if such indi10 vidual is a Representative in Congress. 

11 ‘‘(3) In the case of an individual holding the of12 fice designated in subsection (e), such individual re13 signs as a Senator. 

14 ‘‘(4) In the case of any individual not identified 

15 in subsection (d) or (e), such individual is not await16 ing trial or judgment by the Senate after such indi17 vidual’s impeachment by the House of Representa18 tives. 

19 ‘‘(g) The rule of subsection (a) shall also apply in 

20 the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or 

21 inability of an individual acting as President under this 

22 section if, by reason of death, resignation, removal from 

23 office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is no Vice 

24 President to discharge the powers and duties of the office 

25 of President. 
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1 ‘‘(h) An individual acting as President under this sec2 tion shall promptly nominate a Vice President upon any 

3 vacancy in the office of Vice President. 

4 ‘‘(i) During the period that any individual acts as 

5 President under this section, his compensation shall be at 

6 the rate then provided by law in the case of the Presi7 dent.’’.

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