President pro tempore of the United States Senate

Last updated

President pro tempore of the United States Senate
President Pro Tempore US Senate Seal.svg
Seal of the president pro tempore
Patrick Leahy 117th Congress.jpeg
Incumbent
Patrick Leahy
since January 20, 2021
United States Senate
Style
Seat Senate chamber, United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Appointer United States Senate
Term length At the pleasure of the Senate, and until another is elected or their term of office as a Senator expires
Constituting instrument United States Constitution
FormationMarch 4, 1789
First holder John Langdon
Succession Third [1]
DeputyAny senator, typically a member of the majority party, designated by the President pro tempore
Salary US$193,400 per annum
Website www.senate.gov

The president pro tempore of the United States Senate (often shortened to president pro tem) is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate and the most senior U.S. senator. Article One, Section Three of the United States Constitution provides that the vice president of the United States is the president of the Senate (despite not being a senator), and mandates that the Senate must choose a president pro tempore to act in the vice president's absence.

Contents

Unlike the vice president, the president pro tempore is an elected member of the Senate, able to speak or vote on any bill or issue. They are elected by the Senate as a whole, usually by a resolution which is adopted by unanimous consent without a formal vote. The president pro tempore has enjoyed many privileges and some limited powers. [2]

During the vice president's absence, the president pro tempore is empowered to preside over Senate sessions. Except when necessary or to highlight important votes, the vice president and the president pro tempore rarely preside; instead, the duty of presiding officer is rotated among junior U.S. senators of the majority party to give them experience in parliamentary procedure. [3]

Since 1890, the most senior U.S. senator in the majority party has generally been chosen to be president pro tempore and holds the office continuously until the election of another. This tradition has been observed without interruption since 1949. [4] Since the enactment of the current Presidential Succession Act in 1947, the president pro tempore is third in the line of succession to the presidency, after the vice president and the speaker of the House of Representatives and ahead of the secretary of state. [5]

The current president pro tempore of the Senate is Patrick Leahy of Vermont. He was sworn in on January 20, 2021, during the 117th Congress, when the Democratic Party gained control of the Senate. He previously held the position from 2012 to 2015. [6] [7]

Power and responsibilities

Although the position is in some ways analogous to the speaker of the House of Representatives, the powers of the president pro tempore are far more limited. In the Senate, most power rests with the majority leader and other individual senators, but as the chamber's presiding officer, the president pro tempore is authorized to perform certain duties in the absence of the vice president, including ruling on points of order. [8] Additionally, under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, the president pro tempore and the speaker are the two authorities to whom declarations must be transmitted that the president is unable to perform the duties of the office, or is able to resume doing so. The president pro tempore is third in the line of presidential succession, following the vice president and the speaker, [8] and consequently is one of the few members of Congress entitled to a full-time security detail. [9] Additional duties include appointment of various congressional officers, certain commissions, advisory boards, and committees. [8] The president pro tempore is the designated legal recipient of various reports to the Senate, including War Powers Act reports under which they, jointly with the speaker, may require the president to call Congress back into session. The officeholder is an ex officio member of various boards and commissions. With the secretary and sergeant at arms, the president pro tempore maintains order in Senate portions of the Capitol and Senate buildings. [8] [10]

History

Position established

The office of president pro tempore was established by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. Between 1792 and 1886, the president pro tempore was second in the line of presidential succession, following the vice president and preceding the speaker. Through 1891, the president pro tempore was appointed on an intermittent basis only, when the vice president was not present to preside over the Senate, or at the adjournment of a session of Congress. [11]

The first president pro tempore, John Langdon, was elected on April 6, 1789, [8] serving four separate terms between 1789 and 1793. "More than twelve senators held the office during the Senate's first decade," [12] presiding over sessions, signing legislation, and performing routine administrative tasks.

Whenever the office of the vice presidency was vacant, as it was on ten occasions between 1812 and 1889, [13] the office garnered heightened importance, for although he did not assume the vice presidency, the president pro tempore stood next in line for the presidency. [14] Before the ratification of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967, a vacancy in the vice presidency could be filled only by a regular election; several individuals who served during these vacancies were referred to informally as "acting vice president." [15] [ better source needed ]

On three occasions during the 19th century, the Senate was without both a president and a president pro tempore:

When President Andrew Johnson, who had no vice president, was impeached and tried in 1868, Senate President pro tempore Benjamin Franklin Wade was next in line to the presidency. Wade's radicalism is thought by many historians to be a major reason why the Senate, which did not want to see Wade in the White House, acquitted Johnson. [18]

Vice President Henry Wilson died on November 22, 1875. Senator Thomas W. Ferry, being President pro tempore of the Senate, was next in the line of presidential succession, and remained so until March 4, 1877. As acting president of the senate, he presided over the 1876 impeachment trial of U.S. Secretary of War William Belknap and the meetings of the Electoral Commission created by Congress to resolve the disputed 1876 presidential election. Still president pro tempore at that time, he would have temporally become the acting president had the Electoral College vote not been certified by March 4, 1877; Congress certified Rutherford B. Hayes as the winner of the Electoral College vote on March 2. [19] [20]

The president pro tempore and the speaker of the House were removed from the presidential line of succession in 1886. Both were restored to it in 1947, though this time with the president pro tempore following the speaker. [8]

William P. Frye served as president pro tempore from 1896 to 1911 (the 54th through the 62nd Congresses), a tenure longer than anyone else. He resigned from the position due to ill health shortly before his death. Electing his successor proved difficult, as Senate Republicans, then in the majority, were split between progressive and conservative factions, each promoting its own candidate. Likewise, the Democrats proposed their own candidate. As a result of this three-way split, no individual received a majority vote. It took four months for a compromise solution to emerge: Democrat Augustus Bacon served for a single day, August 14, 1911, during the vice president's absence. Thereafter, Bacon and four Republicans—Charles Curtis, Jacob Gallinger, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Frank Brandegee—alternated as president pro tempore for the remainder of that Congress' session. [8]

Modern era

John Tyler is the only Senate president pro tempore to later become President of the United States. WHOportTyler.jpg
John Tyler is the only Senate president pro tempore to later become President of the United States.

In January 1945, the 79th Congress elected Kenneth McKellar, who at the time was the senator with the longest continuous service, to be president pro tempore. Since then, it has become customary for the majority party's senior member to hold this position. Arthur Vandenberg (from 1947 to 1949) was the last president pro tempore not to be the senior member of the majority party, aside from the single day in December 1980 accorded Milton Young, who was the retiring senior member of the Republican Party, which would hold the majority in the incoming 97th Congress. [4]

Three presidents pro tempore have gone on to be elected to the office of vice president—John Tyler, William R. King, and Charles Curtis—of whom Tyler is the only one to become president, assuming the office in April 1841 upon the death of William Henry Harrison.

Acting president pro tempore

While the president pro tempore does have other official duties, the holders of the office have, like the vice president, over time ceased presiding over the Senate on a daily basis, owing to the mundane and ceremonial nature of the position. [11] Furthermore, as the president pro tempore is usually the most senior senator of the majority party, they most likely also chair a major Senate committee and have other significant demands on their time. Therefore, the president pro tempore has less time now than in the past to preside daily over the Senate. Instead, junior senators from the majority party are designated acting president pro tempore to preside over the Senate. [21] This allows junior senators to learn proper parliamentary procedure. [3] The acting president pro tempore is usually reappointed daily by the president pro tempore. [22]

Permanent acting president pro tempore

In June 1963, because of the illness of president pro tempore Carl Hayden, Lee Metcalf was designated permanent acting president pro tempore. No term was imposed on this designation, so Metcalf retained it until he died in office in 1978. [10]

Deputy president pro tempore

Hubert Humphrey (D-Minnesota) was the first deputy president pro tempore in 1977-1978. Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg
Hubert Humphrey (D-Minnesota) was the first deputy president pro tempore in 1977–1978.

The ceremonial post of deputy president pro tempore was created for Hubert Humphrey, a former vice president, in 1977 following his losing bid to become the Senate majority leader. [23] The Senate resolution creating the position stated that any former president or former vice president serving in the Senate would be entitled to this position. However, since Humphrey, none has served. [10]

George J. Mitchell was elected deputy president pro tempore in 1987, because of the illness of president pro tempore John C. Stennis, similar to Metcalf's earlier designation as permanent acting president pro tempore. The office has remained vacant since 1989 and no senator other than Humphrey and Mitchell has held it since its creation. [10] Mitchell is the only person to have served as deputy president pro tempore who was neither a former president nor former vice president of the United States.

The post is largely honorary and ceremonial, but comes with a salary increase. By statute, the compensation granted to the position holder equals the rate of annual compensation paid to the president pro tempore, majority leader, and minority leader. [10] [24]

President pro tempore emeritus

Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), former president pro tempore, and current president pro tempore emeritus Chuck Grassley official photo 2017.jpg
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), former president pro tempore, and current president pro tempore emeritus

Since 2001, the honorary title of president pro tempore emeritus has been given to a senator of the minority party who has previously served as president pro tempore. The position has been held by Strom Thurmond (R-South Carolina) (2001–2003), Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) (2003–2007), Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) (2007–2009), Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) (2015–2021), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) (2021–present). From 2009 to 2015, no senator met the requirements for the position.

The position was created for Thurmond when the Democratic Party regained a majority in the Senate in June 2001. [25] With the change in party control, Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia replaced Thurmond as president pro tempore, reclaiming a position he had previously held from 1989 to 1995 and briefly in January 2001. Thurmond's retirement from the Senate on January 3, 2003, coincided with a change from Democratic to Republican control, making Stevens president pro tempore and Byrd the second president pro tempore emeritus. In 2007, Byrd returned as president pro tempore, and Stevens became the third president pro tempore emeritus, when the Democrats gained control of the Senate. [10] Although a president pro tempore emeritus has no official duties, they are entitled to an increase in staff, [26] and advise party leaders on the functions of the Senate.

The office's accompanying budget increase was removed toward the end of the 113th Congress, shortly before Patrick Leahy was to become the first holder of the office in six years. [27]

Salary

The salary of the president pro tempore for 2012 was $193,400, equal to that of the majority leaders and minority leaders of both houses of Congress. If there is a vacancy in the office of vice president, then the salary would be the same as that of the vice president. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vice President of the United States</span> Second-highest constitutional office in the United States

The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president is empowered to preside over Senate deliberations at any time, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president is indirectly elected together with the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speaker of the United States House of Representatives</span> Presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives

The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. The speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House and is simultaneously its presiding officer, de facto leader of the body's majority party, and the institution's administrative head. Speakers also perform various other administrative and procedural functions. Given these several roles and responsibilities, the speaker usually does not personally preside over debates. That duty is instead delegated to members of the House from the majority party. Nor does the speaker regularly participate in floor debates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Party leaders of the United States Senate</span>

The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding the majority and the minority in the United States Senate. They are each elected as majority leader and minority leader by the senators of their party caucuses: the Senate Democratic Caucus and the Senate Republican Conference.

The United States Presidential Succession Act is a federal statute establishing the presidential line of succession. Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the United States Constitution authorizes Congress to enact such a statute:

Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution</span> 1967 amendment enumerating presidential succession

The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States presidential line of succession</span>

The United States presidential line of succession is the order in which the vice president of the United States and other officers of the United States federal government assume the powers and duties of the U.S. presidency upon an elected president's death, resignation, removal from office, or incapacity.

An acting president of the United States is an individual who legitimately exercises the powers and duties of the president of the United States even though that person does not hold the office in their own right. There is an established presidential line of succession in which officials of the United States federal government may be called upon to take on presidential responsibilities if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, is removed from office during their four-year term of office; or if a president-elect has not been chosen before Inauguration Day or has failed to qualify by that date.

President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">107th United States Congress</span> 2001-2003 U.S. Congress

The 107th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003, during the final weeks of the Clinton presidency and the first two years of the George W. Bush presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1990 United States Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth McKellar (politician)</span> American politician

Kenneth Douglas McKellar was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953. A Democrat, he served longer in both houses of Congress than anyone else in Tennessee history.

In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

The presiding officer of the United States Senate is the person who presides over the United States Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices, and precedents. Senate presiding officer is a role, not an actual office. The actual role is usually performed by one of three officials: the vice president of the United States; an elected United States senator; or, under certain circumstances, the chief justice of the United States. Outside the constitutionally mandated roles, the actual appointment of a person to do the job of presiding over the Senate as a body is governed by Rule I of the Standing Rules.

United States senators are conventionally ranked by the length of their tenure in the Senate. The senator in each U.S. state with the longer time in office is known as the senior senator; the other is the junior senator. This convention has no official standing, though seniority confers several benefits, including preference in the choice of committee assignments and physical offices. When senators have been in office for the same length of time, a number of tiebreakers, including previous offices held, are used to determine seniority. Per traditions, the longest serving senator of the majority party is named president pro tempore of the Senate, the second-highest office in the Senate and the third in the line of succession to the presidency of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State Senate</span> Upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana

The Louisiana State Senate is the upper house of the state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Davis (Supreme Court justice)</span> US Supreme Court justice from 1881 to 1883

David Davis was a United States senator from Illinois and associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. He also served as Abraham Lincoln's campaign manager at the 1860 Republican National Convention, engineering Lincoln's successful nomination for President by that party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Senate</span> Upper house of the United States Congress

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.

The 1880–81 United States Senate elections were elections that coincided with the presidential election of 1880, and had the Democratic Party lose five seats in the United States Senate. The newly elected Readjuster senator William Mahone caucused with the Republicans, and the Republican Vice President's tie-breaking vote gave the Republicans the slightest majority. All of that changed on September 19, 1881, when Vice President Chester Arthur ascended to the Presidency and the Senate became evenly divided for the first time in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1844 United States elections</span>

The 1844 United States elections elected the members of the 29th United States Congress, and took place during the Second Party System in the midst of the debate over whether to annex Texas. Texas and Iowa joined the union during the 29th Congress. Democrats retained control of the House and took back control of the Presidency and the Senate, re-establishing the dominant position the party had lost in the 1840 election.

References

  1. ↑ "3 U.S. Code § 19 - Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". LII / Legal Information Institute.
  2. ↑ Senate Historical Office; With a preface by Senator Robert C. Byrd, President pro tempore (2008). Erickson, Nancy (Secretary of the Senate) (ed.). Pro Tem: Presidents Pro Tempore of the United States Senate since 1789. U.S. Government Printing Office. p.  9. ISBN   978-0-16-079984-6 . Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Hillary takes Senate gavel–for an hour". CNN. January 24, 2001. Archived from the original on January 20, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Davis, Christopher M. (December 20, 2012). The President Pro Tempore of the Senate: History and Authority of the Office (Report). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ Lord, Debbie (June 18, 2018). "A president resigns, dies or is impeached: What is the line of succession?". wftv.com. Cox Media Group. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  6. ↑ Norton, Kit (January 20, 2021). "With Biden in the White House, Leahy and Sanders take center stage in U.S. Senate". vtdigger.org . Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Senate swears in new members and transitions president pro tempore". Dothan Eagle . Dothan, Alabama. Associated Press Georgia Daybook. January 20, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "President Pro Tempore". United States Senate. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  9. ↑ Stricherz, Mark (June 16, 2017). "Congressional Security Details Remain Murky". rollcall.com. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sachs, Richard C. (January 22, 2003). "The President Pro Tempore of the Senate: History and Authority of the Office" (PDF). Congressional Research Service Report. Congressional Research Service . Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  11. 1 2 Richard E. Berg-Andersson (June 7, 2001). "A Brief History of Congressional Leadership". The Green Papers. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  12. ↑ Erickson, Nancy, ed. (August 22, 2008). "Chapter 1:The Formative Years, 1789–1860" (PDF). Pro tem : presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate since 1789. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing office. pp.  7–10. ISBN   978-0-16-079984-6 . Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ Neale, Thomas H. (September 27, 2004). "Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation" (PDF). CRS Report for Congress. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress. p. 22. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  14. ↑ "John Tyler, Tenth Vice President (1841)". Washington, D.C.: Office of the Secretary, United States Senate. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Lafayette Foster". Art & History. Washington, D.C.: Secretary of the Senate. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  16. ↑ Feerick, John D.; Freund, Paul A. (1965). From Failing Hands: the Story of Presidential Succession. New York City: Fordham University Press. pp. 104–105. LCCN   65-14917.
  17. 1 2 Erickson, Nancy, ed. (August 22, 2008). "Chapter 2: A Question of Succession, 1861-1889" (PDF). Pro tem : presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate since 1789. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing office. pp.  55–57. ISBN   978-0-16-079984-6 . Retrieved July 12, 2018.
  18. ↑ Smith, Gene (1977). High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson . William Morrow & Company. ISBN   0-688-03072-6.
  19. ↑ Bomboy, Scott (August 11, 2017). "Five little-known men who almost became president". Constitution Daily. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: National Constitution Center. Retrieved July 18,2018.
  20. ↑ "THOMAS WHITE FERRY DEAD.; Once a Senator, Acting Vice President, and a National Figure". The New York Times. October 15, 1896. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  21. ↑ Gold, Martin B.; Gupta, Dimple. "The Constitutional Option to Change Senate Rules and Procedures: A Majoritarian Means to Over Come the Filibuster" (PDF). Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. 28 (1): 211. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 7, 2010. Retrieved November 18, 2009.
  22. ↑ "Appointment of a Senator to the Chair – Rules of the Senate – United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration". Archived from the original on December 2, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Hubert H. Humphrey". virtualology.com. Evisum Inc. 2000. Retrieved December 24, 2009.
  24. ↑ 2 U.S.C.   § 6112 — Compensation of Deputy President pro tempore of Senate
  25. ↑ S.Res. 103, adopted, June 6, 2001. "Thanking and Electing Strom Thurmond President pro tempore emeritus."
  26. ↑ 2 U.S.C.   § 6115, amended 2003
  27. ↑ Lesniewski, Niels (December 10, 2014). "Leahy: 'Kind of Petty' Not to Fund Emeritus Office in 'Cromnibus'". CQ Roll Call . Retrieved January 7, 2015.
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by 3rd in line Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.