I have a question about the Senate.

[Archae]

I know if the GOP gains enough seats, Orange-puss becomes Speaker Of The House.

Who becomes President of the Senate if the GOP gets enough seats there?
Sharron Angle? Or No-Chin McDummy?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I could be wrong, but I believe that Biden remains Pres.

of the Senate. It's one of his few official duties.

I think.

:shrug:

[Archae]

2. Oh yeah.

But who would take Harry Reid's job?

Esecially if Reid lost?

[Radical Activist]

4. There would be an election for minority leader.

It could still be Reid or Democratic Senators could elect someone else.

[napi21]

5. If the Dems keep the maj. in the Senate, & Reid loses,

I believe the Maj. leader would be either Durbin or Schummer. If the Dems lose the Maj. in the Senate then say hello to Leader. Chinless. (Mitch McConnell

[Yupster]

8. I would guess Schummer

and I would even guess that he might challenge Reid even if Reid wins his seat and the Dems keep their majority.

[napi21]

14. I hope he does. At the very least, Chuck is no shrinking violet!

He's a good speaker & I think knows how to promote his agenda.

[Rhiannon12866]

11. You're right.

That's one of his official duties, no matter which party holds the majority. :hi:

[AnArmyVeteran]

15. Biden remains president of the senate.

He only votes if there is a tie as Cheney-da-Evil did under Bush-duh-Second.

I wonder if Christine ODonnell, the constitutional expert, knows this??? How I'd love to interview her! I'd pepper her with 'gotcha questions' like "What's your name?" and "How old are you?".

[Rhiannon12866]

3. Dick Lugar and Orrin Hatch are the most senior Republicans...

In that order. The most senior senator of the majority party becomes president pro tem of the Senate, third in line for the presidency, after the VP. The VP is president of the Senate.

[Yupster]

9. That is one of the more stupid traditions of the sentate

As remote as it is, the President of the Senate is in line for the presidency, and picking Senator Byrd at age 92 or Senator Thurmond before him at age 95 just seems stupid.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. The reason that it's done that way is because this is an elected office,

Chosen by the people, rather than a cabinet member, who was appointed by the president. Elected offices are first in line. I agree that Senator Byrd was rather old, not to mention Strom Thurmond, who was objectionable for many additional reasons, LOL, but it's obviously the older members who have served the longest... And I misspoke. Speaker of the House is third in line. President pro tem of the Senate comes right after that, both elected offices. :)

[Yupster]

12. But there's nothing in the Constitution

that says the senate needs to elect their oldest member as President Pro-Tem.

It just says the senate shall elect their own officers.

Electing 90 year olds to Constitutional offices seems more than stupid.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Well, it's not the eldest member, but the one with the most seniority,

Who has served the longest, who is President pro tempore of the Senate. And that's of the majority party, which can change. With the passing of Robert Byrd, Dan Inouye of Hawaii assumed the office. Granted, he was born in 1924, but he's only third in line, behind VP Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who are considerably younger. Since this office was was established in 1789, maybe they didn't expect senators to live as long as they do now? :shrug:

[Yupster]

16. The Constitution does not say anything

about longest serving or oldest senator holding this office.

All the senate is obliged to do is pick one of its members for this office.

[Rhiannon12866]

17. The office was established in 1789. Here's how it works:

The President pro tempore (pronounced /ˌproʊ ˈtɛmpɔriː/; also referred to as President pro tem) is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate and the highest-ranking senator. The U.S. Constitution states that the Vice President of the United States is the President of the Senate, and is the highest-ranking official of the Senate even though he only votes in the case of a tie. During the Vice President's absence, the President pro tempore is the highest-ranking official in the Senate and may preside over its sessions. The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate and is customarily the most senior senator in the majority party. Normally, neither the Vice President of the United States nor the President pro tempore presides; instead, the duty is generally delegated to the junior senators of the majority party to help them learn parliamentary procedure. The President pro tempore is third in the line of succession to the Presidency, after the Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Following the death of Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) on June 28, 2010, Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii was sworn in as President Pro Tempore. By Senate tradition, the Democrat next in line to become President pro tempore after Inouye would be Patrick Leahy of Vermont and followed by Max Baucus of Montana. The senior members of the minority party are Republicans Dick Lugar of Indiana and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_pro_tempore_of_the_United_States_Senate

[BzaDem]

18. Cabinet members are confirmed by the Senate. Having legislators in the line of succession is

actually somewhat Constitutionally problematic.

The Constitution doesn't directly set the line of succession -- Congress does (it's a statute). But the Constitution states that no Congressman can work in the executive while he is a Congressman. This means the Congressman would have to resign before becoming President.

But if they resign, they are no longer speaker or President pro-tem. They are no one. So after they resign their legislative office, they would seem not to be in the line of succession. The line of succession doesn't say "person who was Speaker 5 minutes ago," it says "Speaker."

Of course, this has never been tested in Court, since it has never happened, and my guess would be that the Court would probably find the statute Constitutional. But there are other problems. If the line of succession goes down to the President pro-tem, what happens when the House elects another speaker?

Furthermore, your justification that legislators are elected is true, but they aren't elected by the whole US. They are elected by their district, which could be very extreme (someone the national populace would never elect). Cabinet officials, on the other hand, are selected by the President, who WAS elected by everyone.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. Very good point and it is problematic, I can see.

If the Speaker is eliminated for some reason, there will always be another Speaker. Same with most offices, actually. But I remember reading that elected offices trump appointed ones so that the people, and not the president, would have chosen whomever succeeds.

I'd have to look up the history, but I'm sure that the changes that have occurred over the years came about because of some specific controversy and your point about extremism is well taken. For example, Andrew Johnson may well have been acquitted by the Senate because he had no Vice President and the President pro tem at the time, Benjamin Franklin Wade, was seen as an extremist whom no one wanted to succeed to the presidency. During that time, the Speaker of the House followed the President pro tem in succession... However, it's a pretty remote chance that the VP would be unable to serve, as well as the president, though it happened with Andrew Johnson then there was Nixon... ;)

[hootinholler]

19. Isn't the Speaker third in line?

I'm pretty sure it goes to the Speaker of the House.

-Hoot

[Rhiannon12866]

20. Sorry, yes.

Down thread, I said I misspoke. The VP is first in line, followed by the Speaker and then the President pro tem of the Senate. I think my point was that those who are first in succession are individuals who were elected by the people, followed by those who were appointed by the president. :)

[laughingliberal]

22. Speaker of the House is 3rd in line for the Presidency. President pro tempore is 4th &...

it's not Harry Reid. Daniel Inouye (D-HI). Harry Reid is the Senate Majority leader, a position which is not in the presidential line of succession. The Senate majority and minority leaders are chosen by the members of their party in the Senate:

The floor leaders of each party today are elected by a majority vote of all the Senators of the said party assembled in a conference or, as it sometimes is called, a caucus. The practice has been to choose the leader for a two-year term at the beginning of each Congress. After the parties have held their elections, the selection is made known through the press or by announcement to the Senate. The majority and minority leaders are the elected spokesmen on the Senate floor for their respective political parties, having been elected by their fellow Senators of the same party to whom they are responsible.

http://www.senate.gov/general/common/generic/officer_responsiblities.htm

[Rhiannon12866]

24. The original question was what would happen if the Republicans gain a majority in the Senate.

Obviously, some specific people in the order of succession would change. In that case, Dick Lugar would replace Dan Inouye as President pro tem of the Senate, third in line after the VP and the Speaker. And there would be a new majority leader elected, as well. :(

[laughingliberal]

25. Scary. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

26. Even scarier if it would be Orrin Hatch.

He's second in seniority and is invoking some sort of rule that he says makes him first. :scared:

[laughingliberal]

27. That's the little known 'Mormons First' rule of the Senate.

j/k

[Rhiannon12866]

28. Ah, ha! Mystery solved...

Thanks for sorting that out... ;)

[littlewolf]

6. usually it is done by majority ... however they are

elected to the position ... so in theory ... Demint could become
president pro temp ....

[Lasher]

7. Mitch McConnell is the current Senate Minority Leader

He would become Senate Majority Leader unless the GOP decides to elect a different party leader.

The Vice President Biden will continue to serve as President of the Senate and would continue to serve in that capacity. Dan Inouye is the current President pro tempore. If Republicans were to take control of the Senate, Dick Lugar would assume that role since he is the most senior GOP Senator.

The President of the Senate and the President pro tempore play largely ceremonial roles, however. I do believe you meant to ask who would replace Harry Reid as the person who actually manages the Senate. That would probably be McConnell as I said in the beginning.

[DebJ]

21. Reading this thread makes me so ill I don't know how I'll

ever face it if any of this becomes reality.