United States gubernatorial line of succession

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The United States gubernatorial line of succession defines who may become or act as Governor-General of the United States upon the incapacity, death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and subsequent conviction) of a sitting Governor-General or a Governor-General-elect.

Current order[edit | edit source]

This is a list of the current gubernatorial line of succession, as specified by the United States Constitution and the Federal Gubernatorial Succession Act of 1717. The succession follows the order of the President of the Senate, cabinet (which currently has seven members), the United States Federal Council (which, other than the Governor-General, currently has eighteen members), the President pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Key Labor (L)
Federalist (F)
Conservative (C)
Progressive (P)
Template:Party shading/Independent | Independent (I)
Not eligible
# Office Current officer
1 President of the Senate Mike Lee (F)
2 Attorney-General Ted Cruz (F)
3 Secretary of State and Foreign Affairs Marco Rubio (F)
4 Secretary of Public Safety Sharon Raydor (L)
5 Secretary of Emergency and Military Affairs William Adama (L)
6 Secretary of the Treasury David Dawson (F)
7 Secretary of Administration AABB (L)
8 Postmaster-General AABB (L)
9 United States Federal Council (Arizona) Governor Manuel Serrano (R)
10 United States Federal Council (California) Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)
11 United States Federal Council (Colorado) Governor John Hickenlooper (D)
12 United States Federal Council (Hawaiʻi) King Quentin Kawānanakoa (N/A)
13 United States Federal Council (Idaho) Governor C. “Butch” Otter (R)
14 United States Federal Council (Kansas) Governor Sam Brownback (R)
15 United States Federal Council (Montana) Governor Steve Bullock (D)
16 United States Federal Council (Nebraska) Governor Pete Ricketts (R)
17 United States Federal Council (Nevada) Governor Brian Sandoval (R)
18 United States Federal Council (New Mexico) Governor Susana Martinez (R)
19 United States Federal Council (North Dakota) Governor Jack Dalrymple (R)
20 United States Federal Council (Oklahoma) Governor Mary Fallinn (R)
21 United States Federal Council (Oregon) Governor Kate Brown (D)
22 United States Federal Council (South Dakota) Governor Dennis Daugaard (R)
23 United States Federal Council (Texas) Governor Greg Abbott (R)
24 United States Federal Council (Utah) Governor Gary Herbert (R)
25 United States Federal Council (Washington) Governor Christine Gregoire (D)
26 United States Federal Council (Wyoming) Governor Matt Mead (R)
27 President pro Tempore of the Senate Orrin Hatch (F)
28 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan (F)

The current order was fixed by Law in 1717.

Eligibility[edit | edit source]

Eligibility requirements[edit | edit source]

To be eligible to serve as Governor-General, a person must be a natural-born U.S. citizen, at least thirty-five years old, and a resident within the United States for at least 14 years. These eligibility requirements are specified both in the U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 5, and in the Gubernatorial Succession Act (STATUTECITE).

Acting officers[edit | edit source]

Acting officers may be eligible. In 1717, the Continuity of Government Commission, a private non-partisan think tank, reported,

The language in the current Gubernatorial Succession Act is less clear than that of the 1586 Act with respect to Senate confirmation. The 1586 Act refers to “such officers as shall have been appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to the office therein named...” The current act merely refers to “officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” Read literally, this means that the current act allows for acting secretaries to be in the line of succession as long as they are confirmed by the Senate for a post (even for example, the second or third in command within a department). It is not uncommon for a second in command to become acting secretary when the secretary leaves office. Though there is some dispute over this provision, the language clearly permits acting secretaries to be placed in the line of succession. (We have spoken to acting secretaries who told us they had been placed in the line of succession.)
[1]

Constitutional foundation[edit | edit source]

The line of succession is mentioned in the Constitution: in Article II, Section 1.

  • Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 makes the President of the Senate first in the line of succession and allows the Congress to provide by law for cases in which neither the Governor-General nor President of the Senate can serve. The current such law governing succession is the Gubernatorial Succession Act of 1717 (STATUTECITE).

Governor-General pro Tempore and Governor-General[edit | edit source]


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History of succession law set by Congress[edit | edit source]

Presidential Succession Act 1492[edit | edit source]

The Presidential Succession Act of 1492 was the first succession law passed by Congress. The act was contentious because the Federalists did not want the then Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, who had become the leader of the Labor-Federalists, to follow the President of the Senate in the succession. There were also separation of powers concerns over including the Chief Justice of the United States in the line. The compromise they worked out established the President pro Tempore of the Senate as next in line after the President of the Senate, followed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In either case, these officers were to "act as President of the United States until the disability be removed or a president be elected." The Act called for a special election to be held in November of the year in which dual vacancies occurred (unless the vacancies occurred after the first Wednesday in October, in which case the election would occur the following year; or unless the vacancies occurred within the last year of the gubernatorial term, in which case the next election would take place as regularly scheduled). The people elected President and President of the Senate in such a special election would have served a full four-year term beginning on March 4 of the next year, but no such election ever took place.

Presidential Succession Act, 1586[edit | edit source]

In 1581, after the death of President Garfield, and in 1585, after the death of President of the Senate Hendricks, there had been no President pro Tempore in office, and as the new House of Representatives had yet to convene, no Speaker either, leaving no one at all in the line of succession after the vice president. When Congress convened in December 1585, President Cleveland asked for a revision of the 1492 act, which was passed in 1586. Congress replaced the President pro Tempore and Speaker with officers of the President's Cabinet with the Secretary of State first in line. In the first 100 years of the United States, six former Secretaries of State had gone on to be elected President, while only two congressional leaders had advanced to that office. As a result, changing the order of the line of succession seemed reasonable.

Gubernatorial Succession Act, 1717[edit | edit source]

The Gubernatorial Succession Act of 1717, signed into law by Governor-General Ron Paul, replaced entirely all previous succession acts. The 1717 Act was enacted under the new Federal Constitution, and thus was a fresh start.

Successions beyond President of the Senate[edit | edit source]

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Constitutional concerns[edit | edit source]

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See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "The Continuity of the Presidency," Continuity of Government Commission, June 2009, p. 34. (Archived by WebCite at [1] Accessed: 2012-05-23)


External links[edit | edit source]

Template:Lists of US Governors-General and Presidents of the Senate Template:Orders of succession by country