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 proce-
dures 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Presidential Succession 
Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION. 
Section 19 of title 3, United States Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
‘‘§ 19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice 
President; officers eligible to Act 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) USE
OF
SUCCESSION
LIST.—Except as 
provided in paragraph (2), 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 highest individual on 
the succession list who is eligible to the office of 
President under the Constitution, not under dis-
ability to discharge the powers and duties of the of-
fice of President, and not disqualified under sub-
section (e), shall act as President. 
‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE IF NO PRESIDENT OR VICE 
PRESIDENT IS ELECTED PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF 
TERM.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If, at the time fixed 
for the beginning of the term of the President, 
a President has not been chosen or the Presi-
dent elect has failed to qualify, and a Vice 
President has not been chosen or the Vice 
President elect has failed to qualify— 
‘‘(i) the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall act as President; or
‘‘(ii) if the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives does not qualify, the ma-
jority leader of the Senate shall act as 
President. 
‘‘(B) NO
NOMINATION
OF
VICE
PRESI-
DENT.—An individual acting as President 
under this paragraph may not nominate any in-
dividual to serve as Vice President. 
‘‘(3) 
DETERMINATION
OF
INABILITY
TO 
SERVE.—For purposes of this subsection, an indi-
vidual may not be considered to be unable to serve 
as President or Vice President unless— 
‘‘(A) the individual or an individual legally 
authorized to act on the individual’s behalf files 
a statement with the Supreme Court of the 
United States that the individual is unable to 
carry out the powers and duties of the office; 
and 
‘‘(B) the Supreme Court certifies that the 
statement is correct. 
‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF SERVICE.—An individual act-
ing as President under this section shall continue to so 
act until the expiration of the then current Presidential 
term except that—
‘‘(1) if the individual’s service as President 
under this section results in whole or in part from 
the failure of both the President-elect and the Vice- 
President-elect to qualify, the individual shall act 
only until a President or Vice President qualifies; 
‘‘(2) if the individual’s service as President 
under this section results in whole or in part from 
the inability of the President or Vice President, the 
individual shall act only until the removal of the dis-
ability of one of such individuals; and 
‘‘(3) if the individual’s service as President 
under this section results from the application of 
subsection (a)(2), the individual shall act only until 
a President or Vice President has been chosen or 
qualifies (as the case may be). 
‘‘(c) SUCCESSION LIST DESCRIBED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
for purposes of this section, the term ‘succession list’ 
means the following list: 
‘‘(A) The Secretary of State, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the 
Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, 
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 
Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services, the Sec-
paragraph (A), if the President who appointed 
an individual to an office referred to in para-
graph (1) no longer serves as President by rea-
son of death, resignation, removal from office, 
inability, or failure to qualify, the individual 
shall be deemed to have been appointed to the 
office by the individual succeeding that Presi-
dent if the successor President served as the 
Vice President of that President. 
‘‘(C) SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
INDIVIDUALS 
SUGGESTED
OR
APPROVED
BY
PRESIDENT- 
ELECT.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), if 
an individual who holds an office referred to in 
paragraph (1) was appointed by a sitting Presi-
dent, the individual shall be deemed to have 
been appointed by the President-elect if— 
‘‘(i) the individual was appointed pur-
suant to a suggestion by the President- 
elect so that the individual may begin serv-
ing in the office immediately upon the in-
auguration of the President-elect (as de-
scribed in paragraph (3)); or 
‘‘(ii) if the President-elect notifies the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives and 
the Secretary of the Senate that the Presi-
dent-elect approves the appointment of the 
individual to the office for purposes of 
paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SUBMIS-
SION
OF
NOMINEES
SUGGESTED
BY
PRESIDENT- 
ELECT.—It is the sense of Congress that, prior to 
the inauguration of a President-elect— 
‘‘(A) the President-elect should submit to 
the sitting President suggestions for nominees 
to the offices referred to in the succession list; 
‘‘(B) the sitting President should submit to 
the Senate the nominations of the individuals 
suggested by the President-elect; and 
‘‘(C) the Senate should confirm the ap-
pointment of the nominees submitted by the sit-
ting President so that such individuals may 
begin serving in the offices involved immediately 
upon the inauguration of the President-elect. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE IF NO INDIVIDUAL IS ON SUC-
CESSION LIST.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, by reason of death, res-
ignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to 
qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice Presi-
dent to discharge the powers and duties of the office
of President, and if there is no individual on the suc-
cession list— 
‘‘(A) the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives or the minority leader of the House 
of Representatives, as designated by the Presi-
dent-elect in the most recent notice filed under 
paragraph (2), shall act as President; or 
‘‘(B) if the Speaker or minority leader does 
not qualify, the majority leader of the Senate or 
the minority leader of the Senate, as designated 
by the President-elect in the most recent notice 
filed under paragraph (2), shall act as Presi-
dent. 
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION
BY
PRESIDENT-ELECT.— 
Prior to taking office, the President-elect shall file 
with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and 
the Secretary of the Senate a notice designating 
whether the Speaker or the minority leader of the 
House of Representatives, and whether the majority 
leader or minority leader of the Senate, should act 
as President pursuant to this subsection, and may 
file a revised version of the notice at any time, in-
cluding after taking office. 
‘‘(e) RESIGNATION FROM CURRENT OFFICE.—An in-
dividual is disqualified to discharge the powers and duties
of the office of President for purposes of this section un-
less such individual, at the time that such powers and du-
ties devolve upon the individual, meets the following re-
quirements: 
‘‘(1) In the case of the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives under subsection (a)(2)(A) or 
subsection (d)(1), the individual resigns the office of 
Speaker and (in the case of an individual who is a 
Member of the House of Representatives) the office 
of Member of the House of Representatives. 
‘‘(2) In the case of the minority leader of the 
House of Representatives under subsection (d)(1), 
the individual resigns the office of Member of the 
House of Representatives. 
‘‘(3) In the case of the majority leader of the 
Senate under subsection (a)(2)(B) or subsection 
(d)(2), or the minority leader of the Senate under 
subsection (d)(2), the individual resigns the office of 
Senator. 
‘‘(4) In the case of an individual described in 
subsection (c), the individual resigns the office by 
virtue of the holding of which the individual qualifies 
to act as President. 
‘‘(f) APPLICATION OF PROCEDURES TO INDIVIDUALS 
ACTING AS PRESIDENT UNDER THIS SECTION.—The rule
of subsection (a) shall also apply in the case of the death, 
resignation, removal from office, or inability of an indi-
vidual acting as President under this section if, by reason 
of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or fail-
ure to qualify, there is no Vice President to discharge the 
powers and duties of the office of President. 
‘‘(g) NOMINATION OF VICE PRESIDENT.—Except as 
provided in subsection (a)(2)(B), an individual acting as 
President under this section shall promptly nominate a 
Vice President upon any vacancy in the office of Vice 
President. 
‘‘(h) COMPENSATION.—During the period that any 
individual acts as President under this section, the individ-
ual’s compensation shall be at the rate then provided by 
law in the case of the President.’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING VOTES BY ELEC-
TORS AFTER DEATH OR INCAPACITY OF 
NOMINEES. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) during a Presidential election year, the 2 
nominees of each political party for the office of 
President and Vice President should jointly an-
nounce and designate on or before the first Monday 
in September the individuals for whom the electors 
of President and Vice President who are pledged to
vote for such nominees should give their votes for 
such offices in the event that such nominees are de-
ceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 
date of the meeting of the electors of each State 
under section 7 of title 3, United States Code; 
(2) in the event a nominee for President is de-
ceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 
date referred to in paragraph (1) (but the nominee 
for Vice President of the same political party is not 
deceased or permanently incapacitated), the electors 
of President who are pledged to vote for the nominee 
should give their votes to the nominee of the same 
political party for the office of Vice President, and 
the electors of Vice President who are pledged to 
vote for the nominee for Vice President should give 
their votes to the individual designated for such of-
fice by the nominees under paragraph (1); 
(3) in the event a nominee for Vice President 
is deceased or permanently incapacitated prior to the 
date referred to in paragraph (1) (but the nominee 
for President of the same political party is not de-
ceased or permanently incapacitated), the electors of 
Vice President who are pledged to vote for such 
nominee should give their votes to the individual des-
ignated for such office by the nominees under para-
graph (1); 
(4) in the event that both the nominee for 
President and the nominee for Vice President of the 
same political party are deceased or permanently in-
capacitated prior to the date referred to in para-
graph (1), the electors of President and Vice Presi-
dent who are pledged to vote for such nominees 
should vote for the individuals designated for each 
such office by the nominees under paragraph (1); 
and 
(5) political parties should establish rules and 
procedures consistent with the procedures described 
in the preceding paragraphs, including procedures to 
obtain written pledges from electors to vote in the 
manner described in such paragraphs. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING STATUS OF 
PRESIDENT-ELECT. 
It is the sense of Congress that, for purposes of the 
twentieth amendment to the Constitution, the President- 
elect is the individual receiving the requisite number of 
votes cast by the electors at the meeting of the electors 
held pursuant to clause 3 of section 1 of article II of the 
Constitution. 
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