So, if the President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the House die and the Senate PPT becomes President, who is the acting Vice President?
If the House elects a new Speaker (assuming the Senate has not confirmed a new Vice President), is he not the acting Vice President by nature of being the first in-line?
There is no such thing as acting Vice President. The Vice Presidency combines two functions in one. One is the successor to the current President, who would initially be the Secretary of State in this scenario, but assuming the now traditional method of selection is followed would quickly become the newly selected President pro tem of the Senate, since there would be no need to seek the position. That person would fulfill the Vice President' other function of President of the Senate, and continue to do so even after the House chose a Speaker to be the Presidential successor. (I assume the House would need more time to act than the Senate. If it doesn't then the new PPT would never be first in the line of succession.) The House would need to choose a Speaker (and the Senate a PPT) before Congress could approve a Vice Presidential nominee, so the position of first in the line of succession would be held by two or three different people before a new Vice President was put in office whereas the position of presiding officer of the Senate would be held by one person.
