Endless possibilities--

[slumcamper]

Imagine this

Dems retake the House; Pelosi (or some other) assumes speakership; Trump is impeached, removed, and Pence is exposed and also swept asunder in the chaos of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Who becomes president???



History twists and turns in often unpredictable ways.

[democratisphere]

1. HRC of course!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. That's not possible. It have to be the next person in the line of succession,

which would be the Speaker of the House.

[democratisphere]

4. Ryan will be perp walked too!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. If the Dems take the house, Pelosi will be the Speaker

after 01/20/19. If Ryan goes down before then, the next in line is the president pro tem of the Senate (Orrin Hatch), followed by the Secretary of State (Pompeo), then Mnuchin, Mattis and Sessions.

[democratisphere]

8. What a horrid GOP lineup. One is bad and worse than the next.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Pelosi, if Trump and Pence are removed at the same time,

and before a new VP can be appointed. The Speaker of the House is next in succession after the VP.

[lapfog_1]

12. appoints HRC to be VP

gets both House and Senate confirmation.

Pelosi resigns...

HRC appoints X to be next VP...

and the Russian election is finally undone, more or less

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. Good luck getting senate confirmation.

The Senate GOPers (the House doesn't have to confirm) would set themselves on fire before they'd confirm Hillary.

[lapfog_1]

14. maybe... depends on how big the wave is this fall

it has to be YUUUGE just to convict and remove Trump. so if it is that big... confirmation shouldn't be a problem

But, yes, I know this is fantasy

[brooklynite]

6. Not Nancy Pelosi or any Democrat

For about the millionth time: the only way this crackpot scenario works is if Trump and Pence are removed simultaneously. It won't happen.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. They could both be abducted by aliens at the same time, for probing.

Otherwise it's highly improbable. What would most likely happen is: if Trump goes down, Pence becomes president and he appoints a new VP. Then they get Pence, and the new VP (probably some fundy nutball) becomes president, and in turn appoints another VP. The succession rules are in place only to deal with the unlikely event of some sort of catastrophe that wipes out the government, or parts of it (the "designated survivor" scenario). And there is absolutely no circumstance that would make the installation of Hillary possible (that's another crazy pipe dream).

[slumcamper]

10. Crackpot? I beg your pardon!

I'll grant unlikely, perhaps.

It doesn't have to be simultaneously; presidents HAVE served without VPs. Hell, LBJ went 2 years without one. So there's that.

The central point that is eluding you is the SOH & constitutional succession.

And finally, on the premise of endless possibilities: who can say for certainty that "It won't happen."

After all, look who is [pretending to be] president.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. The 25th Amendment was enacted in 1967, precisely because

Johnson left the job unfilled after JFK was assassinated. At that time there was no requirement to fill the job until the president's next term, but the 25th Amendment now requires the appointment of a new VP, to be approved by the Senate. The job can't be left open any more.

[unblock]

7. republicans would never remove them at the same time, in order to keep the presidency republican

a new veep would be nominated and confirmed in between and would then become president (the way gerald ford did).

there's zero chance republicans would cooperate to remove them in a way that would let a democrat become president, and there's no way we can get enough votes in the senate without some republicans.