II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 920 

To amend chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, relating to Presidential 

succession. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 27, 2005 

Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Rules and Administration 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 1 of title 3, United States Code, relating 

to Presidential succession. 

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 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 19(d) of title 3, United 

8 States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, Secretary 

10 of Homeland Security, Ambassador to the United 
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1 Nations, Ambassador to Great Britain, Ambassador 

2 to Russia, Ambassador to China, Ambassador to 

3 France’’ after ‘‘Secretary of Veterans Affairs’’; 

4 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘but not’’ and 

5 all that follows through the period and inserting ‘‘or 

6 until the disability of the President or Vice Presi7 dent is removed.’’; 

8 (3) in paragraph (3)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘be held to constitute’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘not require’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘Such individual shall not receive compensation 

13 from holding that office during the period that 

14 the individual acts as President under this sec15 tion, and shall be compensated for that period 

16 as provided under subsection (c).’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) This subsection shall apply only to such officers 

19 that are— 

20 ‘‘(A) eligible to the office of President under the 

21 Constitution; 

22 ‘‘(B) appointed to an office listed under para23 graph (1), by and with the advice and consent of the 

24 Senate, prior to the time the powers and duties of 
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1 the President devolve to such officer under para2 graph (1); and 

3 ‘‘(C) not under impeachment by the House of 

4 Representatives at the time the powers and duties of 

5 the office of President devolve upon them.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 19 of title 

7 3, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘as Acting 

9 President’’ and inserting ‘‘to act as President’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (e)— 

11 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘(a), 

12 (b), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) and (b)’’; and 

13 (B) by striking the second sentence. 

14 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING VOTES BY ELEC15 TORS AFTER DEATH OR INCAPACITY OF 

16 NOMINEES. 

17 It is the sense of Congress that— 

18 (1) during a Presidential election year, the 

19 nominees of each political party for the office of 

20 President and Vice President should jointly an21 nounce and designate on or before the final day of 

22 the convention (or related event) at which they are 

23 nominated the individuals for whom the electors of 

24 President and Vice President who are pledged to 

25 vote for such nominees should give their votes for 
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1 such offices in the event that such nominees are de2 ceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 

3 date of the meeting of the electors of each State 

4 under section 7 of title 3, United States Code; 

5 (2) in the event a nominee for President is de6 ceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 

7 date referred to in paragraph (1) (but the nominee 

8 for Vice President of the same political party is not 

9 deceased or permanently incapacitated), the electors 

10 of President who are pledged to vote for the nominee 

11 should give their votes to the nominee of the same 

12 political party for the office of Vice President, and 

13 the electors of Vice President who are pledged to 

14 vote for the nominee for Vice President should give 

15 their votes to the individual designated for such of16 fice by the nominees under paragraph (1); 

17 (3) in the event a nominee for Vice President 

18 is deceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 

19 date referred to in paragraph (1) (but the nominee 

20 for President of the same political party is not de21 ceased or permanently incapacitated), the electors of 

22 Vice President who are pledged to vote for such 

23 nominee should give their votes to the individual des24 ignated for such office by the nominees under para25 graph (1); 
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1 (4) in the event that both the nominee for 

2 President and the nominee for Vice President of the 

3 same political party are deceased or permanently in4 capacitated prior to the date referred to in para5 graph (1), the electors of President and Vice Presi6 dent who are pledged to vote for such nominees 

7 should vote for the individuals designated for each 

8 such office by the nominees under paragraph (1); 

9 and 

10 (5) political parties should establish rules and 

11 procedures consistent with the procedures described 

12 in the preceding paragraphs, including procedures to 

13 obtain written pledges from electors to vote in the 

14 manner described in such paragraphs. 

15 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE CONTINUITY OF GOV16 ERNMENT AND THE SMOOTH TRANSITION OF 

17 EXECUTIVE POWER. 

18 It is the sense of Congress that during the period pre19 ceding the end of a term of office in which a President 

20 will not be serving a succeeding term— 

21 (1) that President should consider submitting 

22 the nominations of individuals to the Senate who are 

23 selected by the President-elect for offices that fall 

24 within the line of succession; 
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1 (2) the Senate should consider conducting con2 firmation proceedings and votes on the nominations 

3 described under paragraph (1), to the extent deter4 mined appropriate by the Senate, between January 

5 3 and January 20 before the Inauguration; and 

6 (3) that President should consider agreeing to 

7 sign and deliver commissions for all approved nomi8 nations on January 20 before the Inauguration to 

9 ensure continuity of Government. 

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