Secret IC: Sarzonia's Presidential Succession Act of 2018

[Sarzonia]

[OOC: I realise this is taking place in 2017 instead of 2018, but thanks to the joys of fluid time, I'm doing this now.]

After the Speaker's gavel banged the ceremonial opening of the 15th session and the Eighth Parliament into session at 9:02 a.m. on a crisp Tuesday morning of 2 January in Woodstock, House Moderate Party leader Karyn Willingham, representing the Sarzonian state of Somerset, walked the halls of the House Building to Committee Room 18. There, she would meet with the other members of the House Ad-Hoc Constitutional Issues Committee.

The House had agreed in the minutes following the gavel's bang to convene the committee to address whether or not the Presidential Succession Act needed to be revised. The consensus of the various committee members was that it needed to be. After all, the original document was ratified in 2004, back before the office of Lieutenant President came into existence. At the time, the powers of that office were exercised in part by the office of Vice President for Internal Affairs. The responsibilities of the role have since been curtailed with the advent of the position of Lieutenant President, but the intention to have Brian Patrick, the current holder of the role, as next in line for the Presidency, was never formally established.

That changed with the passage of Article XIX of the Constitution, which officially placed Patrick right behind President Grant Haffner in the Presidential line of succession. It also provided for filling the role of Lieutenant President in the event of a vacancy. However, the machinations of the law had to be revised.

As for Vice President of Internal Affairs, the new role was now changed to reflect the additional powers granted to the Lieutenant President. [OOC: The office is now much more akin to Secretary of the Interior in the United States, mixed with the role of a state's Secretary of State.] The new line of succession would now have to determine where this new vice presidency would fall in the line of succession. The standard procedure of placing the role at the bottom of the line of succession didn't make much sense. It seemed the role itself should be prominent, even if the new responsibilities were less than they were originally drawn up to be.

Plus, the committee was now looking to establish the office of Surgeon General as a full on cabinet position. The position had been under the Vice President for Health and Athletics; now, the vice presidency would be reorganised into the Vice President for Sport. Clearly, the new Surgeon General should figure somewhere in the line of succession.

There was an additional consideration. With the Lieutenant President now serving as de facto head of government, even though the President was still de jure head of government in addition to his role as head of state, that left an open question as to whether or not the Lieutenant President should either continue to serve as the leader of the Cabinet or return to the ceremonial role as president of the Senate. Chatter about naming the President Pro Tempore of the Senate the Senate President also ran through the discussions. Then, there was the matter of whether or not the House Speaker and the Senate President Pro Tempore (or Senate President) should fall into the line of succession, or even if they should.

One more thought also came across. The Constitution included an assumption that the entire city of Woodstock would be destroyed in a nuclear attack, and provisions for reforming the national government were written with that in mind. However, the framers of the Constitution likely wanted the Mayor and City Council of Woodstock somewhere in the line of succession in the event the city leadership survived a devastating attack. The question was where.

[Sarzonia]

Debate surrounding the need for and the proper wording of a would be Presidential Succession Act of 2018.

That the Lieutenant President would become President in the event of the departure form office of the President was a given. That was established after Article XIX was ratified. The Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer was next in line after the Lieutenant President. That wasn't up for debate.

What was up for debate was how to handle the rest of the line of succession. Some sentiment existed to remove the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate, which was elevated from a merely ceremonial role once Lieutenant President Brian Patrick announced he would no longer attend Senate hearings, except to break a tie. A compromise solution to provide a voting Senator to the Sarzonian section of Sarzoclava passed both chambres of Parliament and was signed into law by President Grant Haffner, thus eliminating most of the need for Patrick to break a tie in Parliament.

Eventually, the decision to remain with the line of succession established in Article IV, Section 2 with the Lieutenant President taking the place of the Senior Vice President for Internal Affairs in the line. The Senior Vice President for Defence would also take his spot behind the Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer.

"The voice of the people must remain paramount," Senator Howell Lindsey (Liberal-New Isselmere) said in a fiery speech on the Senate floor. "They have a hand in electing the Speaker and the Senate President. They do not have a direct voice in the nomination and confirmation of Cabinet Vice Presidents."

Then, the decision of what to do about Internal Affairs now that there was a newly re-created Cabinet position became the debate. Ultimately, they decided to put Carletta Grayson, who was recently confirmed by the House of Delegates, in the last position among Cabinet officials, as her role was now greatly reduced from the original holder's role.

Finally, debate raged about what the founding intention was with the Mayor of Woodstock and the City Council. Article IV, Section 3 established a line of succession in the event Woodstock were destroyed and its city government were decimated along with it, but what if Woodstock itself survived? What if the mayor and city council were elsewhere and could quickly re-establish itself?

In the last official tie-breaking vote he would record before the new act would be voted upon, Patrick cast the deciding vote to include the Woodstock city government ahead of even the least populous state.

(a)
(1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Lieutenant President nor Senior Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the Speaker of the House of Delegates shall, upon his resignation as Speaker and as Delegate in Parliament, act as President.
(2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or inability of an individual acting as President under this subsection.
(b) If, at the time when under subsection (a) of this section a Speaker is to begin the discharge of the powers and duties of the office of President, there is no Speaker, or the Speaker fails to qualify as Acting President, then the President of the Senate shall, upon his resignation as Senate President and as Senator, act as President.
(c) An individual acting as President under subsection (a) or subsection (b) of this section shall continue to act until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, except that—
(1) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded in whole or in part on the failure of both the President-elect and the Lieutenant-President-elect to qualify, then he shall act only until a President or Vice President qualifies; and
(2) if his discharge of the powers and duties of the office is founded in whole or in part on the inability of the President, the Lieutenant President, or a Senior Vice President or a Vice President, then he shall act only until the removal of the disability of one of such individuals.
(d)
(1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is no Senate President to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the officer of the Incorporated States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President shall act as President: Vice President of the Treasury, Attorney General, Vice President of Agriculture, Vice President of Business and Commerce, Vice President of Labor, Vice President of Health and Athletics, Vice President of Transportation, Vice President of Energy, Vice President of Education, Vice President of Veterans Affairs, Vice President of Homeland Security, Surgeon General, Vice President and Internal Affairs Officer.
(2) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is no Cabinet Vice President or equivalent to act as President under subsection (b) of this section, then the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court shall serve as acting President. Following him or her, the Mayor of Woodstock and City Council shall serve as the interim national government until one can be elected and sworn in. Following the Mayor and City Council of Woodstock, the government of the least populous state shall serve as the interim national government.
(3) An individual acting as President under this subsection shall continue so to do until the expiration of the then current Presidential term, but not after a qualified and prior-entitled individual is able to act, except that the removal of the disability of an individual higher on the list contained in paragraph (1) of this subsection or the ability to qualify on the part of an individual higher on such list shall not terminate his service.
(4) The taking of the oath of office by an individual specified in the list in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be held to constitute his resignation from the office by virtue of the holding of which he qualifies to act as President.
(e) Subsections (a), (b), and (d) of this section shall apply only to such officers as are eligible to the office of President under the Constitution. Subsection (d) of this section shall apply only to officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, of the President pro tempore, and only to officers not under impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of President devolve upon them.
(f) During the period that any individual acts as President under this section, his compensation shall be at the rate then provided by law in the case of the President.