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U.S. Code as of:
01/3/05
Section 19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act
(a)(1) 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 Speaker of the House of Representatives shall,
upon his resignation as Speaker and as Representative in Congress,
act as President.
(2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death,
resignation, removal from office, or inability of an individual
acting as President under this subsection.
(b) If, at the time when under subsection (a) of this section a
Speaker is to begin the discharge of the powers and duties of the
office of President, there is no Speaker, or the Speaker fails to
qualify as Acting President, then the President pro tempore of the
Senate shall, upon his resignation as President pro tempore and as
Senator, act as President.
(c) An individual acting as President under subsection (a) or
subsection (b) of this section shall continue to act until the
expiration of the then current Presidential term, except that -
(1) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is
founded in whole or in part on the failure of both the
President-elect and the Vice-President-elect to qualify, then he
shall act only until a President or Vice President qualifies; and
(2) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is
founded in whole or in part on the inability of the President or
Vice President, then he shall act only until the removal of the
disability of one of such individuals.
(d)(1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office,
inability, or failure to qualify, there is no President pro tempore
to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the
officer of the United States who is highest on the following list,
and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties
of the office of President shall act as President: Secretary of
State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney
General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture,
Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,
Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of
Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(2) An individual acting as President under this subsection shall
continue so to do until the expiration of the then current
Presidential term, but not after a qualified and prior-entitled
individual is able to act, except that the removal of the
disability of an individual higher on the list contained in
paragraph (1) of this subsection or the ability to qualify on the
part of an individual higher on such list shall not terminate his
service.
(3) The taking of the oath of office by an individual specified
in the list in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be held to
constitute his resignation from the office by virtue of the holding
of which he qualifies to act as President.
(e) Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section shall apply
only to such officers as are eligible to the office of President
under the Constitution. Subsection (d) of this section shall apply
only to officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation, removal
from office, inability, or failure to qualify, of the President pro
tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment by the House of
Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of
President devolve upon them.
(f) During the period that any individual acts as President under
this section, his compensation shall be at the rate then provided
by law in the case of the President.
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