I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5390 

To amend title 3, United States Code, to revise the procedures for Presidential 

succession in the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, 

inability, or failure to qualify of the President, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 18, 2004 

Mr. SHERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 3, United States Code, to revise the procedures for Presidential succession in the case of the death, 

resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to 

qualify of the 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 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION. 

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

8 to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘§ 19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice 

2 President; officers eligible to Act 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) USE OF SUCCESSION LIST.—Except as 

5 provided in paragraph (2), if, by reason of death, 

6 resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure 

7 to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice 

8 President to discharge the powers and duties of the 

9 office of President, then the highest individual on 

10 the succession list who is eligible to the office of 

11 President under the Constitution, not under dis12 ability to discharge the powers and duties of the of13 fice of President, and not disqualified under sub14 section (e), shall act as President. 

15 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE IF NO PRESIDENT OR VICE

16 PRESIDENT IS ELECTED PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF

17 TERM.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time fixed 

19 for the beginning of the term of the President, 

20 a President has not been chosen or the Presi21 dent elect has failed to qualify, and a Vice 

22 President has not been chosen or the Vice 

23 President elect has failed to qualify— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Speaker of the House of Rep25 resentatives shall act as President; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) if the Speaker of the House of 

2 Representatives does not qualify, the ma3 jority leader of the Senate shall act as 

4 President. 

5 ‘‘(B) NO NOMINATION OF VICE PRESI6 DENT.—An individual acting as President 

7 under this paragraph may not nominate any in8 dividual to serve as Vice President. 

9 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF INABILITY TO

10 SERVE.—For purposes of this subsection, an indi11 vidual may not be considered to be unable to serve 

12 as President or Vice President unless— 

13 ‘‘(A) the individual or an individual legally 

14 authorized to act on the individual’s behalf files 

15 a statement with the Supreme Court of the 

16 United States that the individual is unable to 

17 carry out the powers and duties of the office; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) the Supreme Court certifies that the 

20 statement is correct. 

21 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF SERVICE.—An individual act22 ing as President under this section shall continue to so 

23 act until the expiration of the then current Presidential 

24 term except that— 
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1 ‘‘(1) if the individual’s service as President 

2 under this section results in whole or in part from 

3 the failure of both the President-elect and the Vice4 President-elect to qualify, the individual shall act 

5 only until a President or Vice President qualifies; 

6 ‘‘(2) if the individual’s service as President 

7 under this section results in whole or in part from 

8 the inability of the President or Vice President, the 

9 individual shall act only until the removal of the dis10 ability of one of such individuals; and 

11 ‘‘(3) if the individual’s service as President 

12 under this section results from the application of 

13 subsection (a)(2), the individual shall act only until 

14 a President or Vice President has been chosen or 

15 qualifies (as the case may be). 

16 ‘‘(c) SUCCESSION LIST DESCRIBED.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

18 for purposes of this section, the term ‘succession list’ 

19 means the following list: 

20 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of State, the Secretary 

21 of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the 

22 Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, 

23 the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 

24 Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Sec25 retary of Health and Human Services, the Sec-
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1 retary of Housing and Urban Development, the 

2 Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of 

3 Energy, the Secretary of Education, the Sec4 retary of Veterans Affairs, and the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security. 

6 ‘‘(B) The United States Ambassadors to 

7 the following (in the following order): 

8 ‘‘(i) The United Nations. 

9 ‘‘(ii) The United Kingdom of Great 

10 Britain and Northern Ireland. 

11 ‘‘(iii) The French Republic. 

12 ‘‘(iv) The Russian Federation. 

13 ‘‘(v) The People’s Republic of China. 

14 ‘‘(2) REQUIRING APPOINTMENT BY PRESI15 DENT.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para17 graph (1) and except as provided in subpara18 graphs (B) and (C), an individual shall not be 

19 considered to hold any office referred to in such 

20 paragraph unless the individual was appointed 

21 to the office by the President whom the indi22 vidual would succeed pursuant to this section. 

23 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS AP24 POINTED BY FORMER PRESIDENT SUCCEEDED

25 BY VICE PRESIDENT.—For purposes of sub-
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1 paragraph (A), if the President who appointed 

2 an individual to an office referred to in para3 graph (1) no longer serves as President by rea4 son of death, resignation, removal from office, 

5 inability, or failure to qualify, the individual 

6 shall be deemed to have been appointed to the 

7 office by the individual succeeding that Presi8 dent if the successor President served as the 

9 Vice President of that President. 

10 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR INDIVIDUALS

11 SUGGESTED OR APPROVED BY PRESIDENT12 ELECT.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), if 

13 an individual who holds an office referred to in 

14 paragraph (1) was appointed by a sitting Presi15 dent, the individual shall be deemed to have 

16 been appointed by the President-elect if— 

17 ‘‘(i) the individual was appointed pur18 suant to a suggestion by the President19 elect so that the individual may begin serv20 ing in the office immediately upon the in21 auguration of the President-elect (as de22 scribed in paragraph (3)); or 

23 ‘‘(ii) if the President-elect notifies the 

24 Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

25 the Secretary of the Senate that the Presi-
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1 dent-elect approves the appointment of the 

2 individual to the office for purposes of 

3 paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SUBMIS5 SION OF NOMINEES SUGGESTED BY PRESIDENT6 ELECT.—It is the sense of Congress that, prior to 

7 the inauguration of a President-elect— 

8 ‘‘(A) the President-elect should submit to 

9 the sitting President suggestions for nominees 

10 to the offices referred to in the succession list; 

11 ‘‘(B) the sitting President should submit to 

12 the Senate the nominations of the individuals 

13 suggested by the President-elect; and 

14 ‘‘(C) the Senate should confirm the ap15 pointment of the nominees submitted by the sit16 ting President so that such individuals may 

17 begin serving in the offices involved immediately 

18 upon the inauguration of the President-elect. 

19 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE IF NO INDIVIDUAL IS ON SUC20 CESSION LIST.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, by reason of death, res22 ignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to 

23 qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice Presi24 dent to discharge the powers and duties of the office 
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1 of President, and if there is no individual on the suc2 cession list— 

3 ‘‘(A) the Speaker of the House of Rep4 resentatives or the minority leader of the House 

5 of Representatives, as designated by the Presi6 dent-elect in the most recent notice filed under 

7 paragraph (2), shall act as President; or 

8 ‘‘(B) if the Speaker or minority leader does 

9 not qualify, the majority leader of the Senate or 

10 the minority leader of the Senate, as designated 

11 by the President-elect in the most recent notice 

12 filed under paragraph (2), shall act as Presi13 dent. 

14 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION BY PRESIDENT-ELECT.— 

15 Prior to taking office, the President-elect shall file 

16 with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and 

17 the Secretary of the Senate a notice designating 

18 whether the Speaker or the minority leader of the 

19 House of Representatives, and whether the majority 

20 leader or minority leader of the Senate, should act 

21 as President pursuant to this subsection, and may 

22 file a revised version of the notice at any time, in23 cluding after taking office. 

24 ‘‘(e) RESIGNATION FROM CURRENT OFFICE.—An in25 dividual is disqualified to discharge the powers and duties 
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1 of the office of President for purposes of this section un2 less such individual, at the time that such powers and du3 ties devolve upon the individual, meets the following re4 quirements: 

5 ‘‘(1) In the case of the Speaker of the House 

6 of Representatives under subsection (a)(2)(A) or 

7 subsection (d)(1), the individual resigns the office of 

8 Speaker and (in the case of an individual who is a 

9 Member of the House of Representatives) the office 

10 of Member of the House of Representatives. 

11 ‘‘(2) In the case of the minority leader of the 

12 House of Representatives under subsection (d)(1), 

13 the individual resigns the office of Member of the 

14 House of Representatives. 

15 ‘‘(3) In the case of the majority leader of the 

16 Senate under subsection (a)(2)(B) or subsection 

17 (d)(2), or the minority leader of the Senate under 

18 subsection (d)(2), the individual resigns the office of 

19 Senator. 

20 ‘‘(4) In the case of an individual described in 

21 subsection (c), the individual resigns the office by 

22 virtue of the holding of which the individual qualifies 

23 to act as President. 

24 ‘‘(f) APPLICATION OF PROCEDURES TO INDIVIDUALS

25 ACTING AS PRESIDENT UNDER THIS SECTION.—The rule 
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1 of subsection (a) shall also apply in the case of the death, 

2 resignation, removal from office, or inability of an indi3 vidual acting as President under this section if, by reason 

4 of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or fail5 ure to qualify, there is no Vice President to discharge the 

6 powers and duties of the office of President. 

7 ‘‘(g) NOMINATION OF VICE PRESIDENT.—Except as 

8 provided in subsection (a)(2)(B), an individual acting as 

9 President under this section shall promptly nominate a 

10 Vice President upon any vacancy in the office of Vice 

11 President. 

12 ‘‘(h) COMPENSATION.—During the period that any 

13 individual acts as President under this section, the individ14 ual’s compensation shall be at the rate then provided by 

15 law in the case of the President.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING VOTES BY ELEC17 TORS AFTER DEATH OR INCAPACITY OF 

18 NOMINEES. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that— 

20 (1) during a Presidential election year, the 2 

21 nominees of each political party for the office of 

22 President and Vice President should jointly an23 nounce and designate on or before the first Monday 

24 in September the individuals for whom the electors 

25 of President and Vice President who are pledged to 
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1 vote for such nominees should give their votes for 

2 such offices in the event that such nominees are de3 ceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 

4 date of the meeting of the electors of each State 

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

6 (2) in the event a nominee for President is de7 ceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 

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

9 for Vice President of the same political party is not 

10 deceased or permanently incapacitated), the electors 

11 of President who are pledged to vote for the nominee 

12 should give their votes to the nominee of the same 

13 political party for the office of Vice President, and 

14 the electors of Vice President who are pledged to 

15 vote for the nominee for Vice President should give 

16 their votes to the individual designated for such of17 fice by the nominees under paragraph (1); 

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

19 is deceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 

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

21 for President of the same political party is not de22 ceased or permanently incapacitated), the electors of 

23 Vice President who are pledged to vote for such 

24 nominee should give their votes to the individual des-
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1 ignated for such office by the nominees under para2 graph (1); 

3 (4) in the event that both the nominee for 

4 President and the nominee for Vice President of the 

5 same political party are deceased or permanently in6 capacitated prior to the date referred to in para7 graph (1), the electors of President and Vice Presi8 dent who are pledged to vote for such nominees 

9 should vote for the individuals designated for each 

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

11 and 

12 (5) political parties should establish rules and 

13 procedures consistent with the procedures described 

14 in the preceding paragraphs, including procedures to 

15 obtain written pledges from electors to vote in the 

16 manner described in such paragraphs. 

17 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING STATUS OF 

18 PRESIDENT-ELECT. 

19 It is the sense of Congress that, for purposes of the 

20 twentieth amendment to the Constitution, the President21 elect is the individual receiving the requisite number of 

22 votes cast by the electors at the meeting of the electors 

23 held pursuant to clause 3 of section 1 of article II of the 

24 Constitution. 

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