Question in case of D.C. cataclysm.

When the President addresses both Houses of Congress, one member of the Cabinet is always kept outside the city in a secured location, to serve as a designated survivor. If the city suddenly sank into the ground, the designated survivor, say the Sec. of State, would be sworn in. As for the Senators, in the case of a vacancy, the Governor appoints a new Senator to finish the term. The Senate could be replaced in days, if need be. The House of Representatives is another matter. Why does a House vacancy require a special vote?
 
When the President addresses both Houses of Congress, one member of the Cabinet is always kept outside the city in a secured location, to serve as a designated survivor. If the city suddenly sank into the ground, the designated survivor, say the Sec. of State, would be sworn in. As for the Senators, in the case of a vacancy, the Governor appoints a new Senator to finish the term. The Senate could be replaced in days, if need be. The House of Representatives is another matter. Why does a House vacancy require a special vote?

Firstly, because the Founders probably couldn't have foreseen that something might kill all the Representatives (or at least enought to deprive the House of a Quorum) at once.

Second, because once folks realized that it might be a nice idea to rectify the potentially damaging hole, there was a great deal of controversy about how to fill it. Many Representatives maintain that no person not elected should sit the House of Representatives: hence, it's an expression of a fundamental democractic prinicple. This is why the Founders required a special election for single vacancies (as of course had been the practice in their colonial assemblies and in Parliament).

There are quite a few "Continuity of Government" proposals the rectify this and other potential flaws in US succession provisions.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
This was actually a plot device in Tom Clancy's "Executive Orders" where Jack Ryan emerges as President (just moments after having been sworn in as Vice President) when a jet liner slams into a Joint Session of Congress, killing the President, the Cabinet, virtually all of Congress, the Supreme Court, and most of the heads of the major agencies (i.e. NASA). IIRC, he arranged with the state governors to hold simultaneous special elections across the country as soon as was possible.

In the very interesting book "A More Perfect Constitution", Dr. Larry Sabato lays out 23 amendments to the Constitution that would greatly improve the functioning of government. One of them is to plan for a disaster that could potentially destroy the House as well as the Senate.
 
In the very interesting book "A More Perfect Constitution", Dr. Larry Sabato lays out 23 amendments to the Constitution that would greatly improve the functioning of government. One of them is to plan for a disaster that could potentially destroy the House as well as the Senate.

It's a very interesting book. I'm not sure how much of his conclusions I agree with (though I do with many) but his discussion is great.
 
Top