WP: "Nightmarish" succession scenario: Hastert has a secret list [View All]

[DeepModem Mom]

A Secret in the Line of Succession
By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 16, 2006; Page A19

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) shows no sign of resigning over the Mark Foley-House page scandal. But the mere suggestion that he might do so raises an intriguing political and constitutional question: Who would replace him while Congress is in recess?

The answer, it appears, is on a piece of paper locked away in the House clerk's office.

In a little-noticed action taken nearly four years ago, the House amended its rules dealing with the "continuity of Congress" in emergencies and the succession of speakers. The rule, cited recently in Roll Call, directs the speaker to "deliver to the Clerk a list of Members in the order in which each shall act as Speaker pro tempore . . . in the case of a vacancy in the office of Speaker."

Normally, "speaker pro tempore" is the title given for a few hours at a time to various members of the majority who preside over House sessions. But the rules revision made in January 2003, in response to worries about terrorist strikes that could wipe out large numbers of elected officials, appears to bestow upon a newly named replacement all the powers enjoyed by a full-time speaker elected by his peers....

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As for nightmarish constitutional what-ifs, (Neil Kinkopf, a professor of law at Georgia State University) said, "Imagine where the presidency falls not to the speaker, but to somebody on the speaker's secret list."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500691.html