Topix Underground

"...When the gavel came crashing down Tuesday afternoon, declaring the Office of the Speaker of the House vacant, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the Senate president pro tempore, found herself one step higher on the ladder of presidential succession.

Murray confirmed her upgraded place in the line of succession during an interview with the New York Times Wednesday, acknowledging the new and temporary — although unclear for how long — reality.

“It’s not the trappings of it. It’s really the job of it,” Murray told he Times. “I have a job to do and it’s really important, and I want to make sure that I’m successful at it.”

It’s a job – and a “constitutional role” as her office put it – the senator has always taken very seriously, her spokesperson said in response to TPM’s inquiries about her new status. As the Succession Act of 1947 makes clear the line of succession to replace the U.S. president goes vice president, Speaker of the House, Senate President pro tempore, followed by a line of cabinet members.

Further: “If the offices of President and Vice President are vacant simultaneously, the Speaker of the House of Representatives acts as President, after resigning from the House and from the office of Speaker. If the speakership is also vacant, the President pro tempore of the Senate acts as President,” according to a 2020 Congressional Research Service report..."