The United States presidential line of succession is the order of individuals who can assume the office of president of the United States if the incumbent president becomes incapacitated, dies, resigns, or is removed from office. Per the Constitution, the vice president is first in line in such a scenario, and is elected alongside the president. The Constitution states that further succession, in the event of a vacant vice presidency, is designated by law as set by Congress.
Prior to 2056, presidential succession beyond the vice president consisted of Congressional leaders and Cabinet secretaries in order of creation of Cabinet department. Since the passage of the Presidential Succession Act of 2056, the president is allowed to set the order of succession from a list of individuals who they submit for congressional confirmation. All individuals in the line of succession must be eligible for the presidency as outlined in the Constitution. Six individuals were legally mandated to always be in the line of succession: the Secretaries of State, Defense, and the Treasury, the Attorney and Postmaster General, and the Administrator of FEMA. At least five individuals on the list must primarily live outside the Douglass Commonwealth, the nation's capital, in case of a mass casualty event.
The president may change the order of individuals and dismiss any individual beyond the vice president at their discretion. Sitting members of Congress, the federal judiciary, and active duty military members are ineligible to be listed for succession unless they vacate their current posting. The list must be public knowledge at all times. In the event that all individuals on the list have been eliminated, succession devolves upon the succession orders of the senior cabinet departments, until such a time as Congress designates a new president.
The first line of succession under President Currentpresident consisted of the six mandatory appointments, followed by Presidents Remington and Roth, General O'Connell, and Governors Donelson and Masters-Jones. Subsequent additions were made during the following years. O'Connell was nominated due to a tradition of including at least one former military officer. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Alicia Varga was added to include an individual residing outside the United States. ATF Director Amber Andrews-Taylor was included as a nod to the Utica wing of the Democratic Party, as she was one of the highest ranking Uticans in the Currentpresident administration. Iman Abdulkader, then the representative from NJ-03, was nominated due to a tradition of pulling one member from Congress. Abdulkader resigned her House seat in accordance with the law. Astronaut Antares Allen, the first human to step foot on Mars, was added due to his status as a highly popular national hero. The line of succession was last changed on September 24, 2075, when 14th in line Secretary of Welfare Mauree Young (D/H) resigned from office and was subsequently removed from the succession by the president. Her successor, Estefania Solaro (D/H), was not submitted to Congress for the succession.
Controversially, the president nominated her husband, First Gentleman Andre J. Randall. The president argued that in the event of her demise, her husband would be the most suited person to fulfill the mandate she had been given by the American people, due to their closeness. Randall had served as Governor of Texas until the point his wife became president, and had previously been considered a potential presidential candidate as well. However, this position was not shared by large parts of the public and Congress. Ultimately, Randall was confirmed by 2 votes in the Senate and 8 votes in the House, with all votes coming from the president's Democratic-Hamburger faction, after she promised to place her husband at the last place in the line. The ploy has been seen as a waste of political capital for the president, and detrimental to both her and her husband's chances in future presidential elections.
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