1. A DISTINCT SYSTEM FOR PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION ON INAUGURATION DAY: GETTING THE MOST OUT OF SECTION 3 OF THE TWENTIETH AMENDMENT.
- Author
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Kalt, Brian C.
- Subjects
- *
INAUGURATION of presidents , *INAUGURATION Day , *PRESIDENTIAL system , *INHERITANCE & succession , *CONSTITUTIONS - Abstract
The currentpresidential-succession statute uses the same line of succession for every conceivable situation. But there are many different types of potential succession scenarios. Succession need not-and should not-be governed by a one-size-fits-all approach. Before the Twentieth Amendment was ratified in 1933, the Constitution authorized Congress to provide only for double vacancies during the term, when there already is a President and Vice President. Recognizing this gap, Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment empowered Congress to cover inauguration-day double vacancies: at the outset of a term, when nobody is available to become President or Vice President in the first place. Significantly, Section 3 gives Congress much more flexibility for inaugurationday double vacancies than Article II allows for middle-of-the-term ones. But Congress has never fully embraced its Section 3 powers: When Congress wrote the current succession law in 1947, it chose a monolithic system that ignored the distinctive needs of inauguration-day succession and left Section 3's flexibility unused. The time for Congress to make full use of its Section 3 powers is long overdue. Moreover, Section 3 has been largely neglected by scholars. The time for a full-length published treatment of Section 3 is overdue as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024