SB 105-12: Presidential Succession Act of 2021 (Passed)

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

AN ACT
To revise the presidential line of succession, in accordance with the Fifth Constitution of Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia:

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this act shall be, the "Presidential Succession Act of 2021."

Section 2 (Line of succession)
i. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of the president, if there is no vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate shall become president.
ii. If the president pro tempore should be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of state shall become president.
iii. If both the president pro tempore and the secretary of state should be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the attorney general shall become president.
iv. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, and the attorney general should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of federal elections shall become president.
v. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of federal elections should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the registrar general shall become president.
vi. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, and the registrar general should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the longest-tenured eligible senator shall become president.
vii. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, the registrar general, and every senator should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the chief justice of the supreme court shall become president.
viii. Once the eligible officer shall have sworn the oath of office, in accordance with the law, they shall continue as president for the remainder of the existing term.

Section 3 (Interim president)
i. In the event of the temporary inability of the president or the temporary vacancy of the presidency, if there is no vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate shall become interim president.
ii. If the president pro tempore should be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of state shall become interim president.
iii. If both the president pro tempore and the secretary of state should be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the attorney general shall become interim president.
iv. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, and the attorney general should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of federal elections shall become interim president.
v. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of federal elections should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the registrar general shall become interim president.
vi. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, and the registrar general should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the longest-tenured eligible senator shall become interim president.
vii. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, the registrar general, and every senator should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the chief justice of the supreme court shall become interim president.
viii. The interim president shall relinquish the powers and duties of the presidency to the constitutional president upon the termination of the inability or vacancy.

Section 4 (Declination)
i. Any officer may decline to assume the presidency or to act as president, in which event the presidency shall pass to the next eligible officer in the line of succession. A declination must be made in the form of a public post on the Atlas Fantasy Government board.
ii. An officer may decline the presidency in silentia, by a failure to swear the oath of office within twenty-four (24) hours of the creation of the vacancy or the declination of the previous eligible officer.
iii. An officer may decline the presidency in abstentia if the shall have made no posts on the Atlas Fantasy Government or Atlas Fantasy Elections boards or their several subforums within fifty-six (56) days of the creation of the vacancy, or shall have made no posts on the Atlas forum within twenty-one (21) days of the creation of the vacancy, and they shall fail to swear the oath of office before the next eligible officer shall do so.

Sponsor: S019, on behalf of Harry S Truman

The gentleman from New Jersey is recognized. The Attorney General and First Minister is also invited to speak.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

At present, the line of succession includes several officers which positions have been eliminated by the Fifth Constitution (speaker of the House, longest-tenured representative) or by executive decree (secretary of internal affairs, national archivist). This bill updates the line of succession to omit these now-obsolete references, leaving us with

[1. vice president]
2. ppt of the Senate
3. SoS
4. AG
5. SoFE
6. RG
7. longest-tenured senator
8. chief justice

as the revised line of succession. It also codifies the process by which an officer may decline the presidency to hopefully avoid any uncertainty about who is the rightful president in what would obviously be trying times for the nation.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Looks pretty straightforward to me. I'll motion for UC on this.

Senators have 24 hours to object.

[Joseph Cao]

If an officer wants to make a straight declination as per the first clause of section 4, would it be better to restrict the means by which they do it to a post in the swearing-in thread in particular? Obviously not doing so would get us to the in silentia part sooner or later, but it seems more appropriate for such posts to be made in the thread itself.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Suspending the final vote for an amendment:

Section 4 (Declination)
i. Any officer may decline to assume the presidency or to act as president, in which event the presidency shall pass to the next eligible officer in the line of succession. A declination must be made in the form of a public post on the Atlas Fantasy Government board. in the "Swearing in of New Officers" thread.
ii. An officer may decline the presidency in silentia, by a failure to swear the oath of office within twenty-four (24) hours of the creation of the vacancy or the declination of the previous eligible officer.
iii. An officer may decline the presidency in abstentia if the shall have made no posts on the Atlas Fantasy Government or Atlas Fantasy Elections boards or their several subforums within fifty-six (56) days of the creation of the vacancy, or shall have made no posts on the Atlas forum within twenty-one (21) days of the creation of the vacancy, and they shall fail to swear the oath of office before the next eligible officer shall do so.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A declination process is certainly advisable as this situation has actually arisen in the past and this would have avoided a lot of problems were it present at the time.

[S019]

Friendly

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Senators have 24 hours to object to the amendment. I will also open a final vote after its adoption, barring objections.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Hearing no objection, the amendment is adopted and a final vote is now open. Senators, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

AN ACT
To revise the presidential line of succession, in accordance with the Fifth Constitution of Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia:

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this act shall be, the "Presidential Succession Act of 2021."

Section 2 (Line of succession)
i. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of the president, if there is no vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate shall become president.
ii. If the president pro tempore should be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of state shall become president.
iii. If both the president pro tempore and the secretary of state should be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the attorney general shall become president.
iv. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, and the attorney general should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of federal elections shall become president.
v. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of federal elections should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the registrar general shall become president.
vi. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, and the registrar general should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the longest-tenured eligible senator shall become president.
vii. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, the registrar general, and every senator should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the chief justice of the supreme court shall become president.
viii. Once the eligible officer shall have sworn the oath of office, in accordance with the law, they shall continue as president for the remainder of the existing term.

Section 3 (Interim president)
i. In the event of the temporary inability of the president or the temporary vacancy of the presidency, if there is no vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate shall become interim president.
ii. If the president pro tempore should be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of state shall become interim president.
iii. If both the president pro tempore and the secretary of state should be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the attorney general shall become interim president.
iv. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, and the attorney general should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of federal elections shall become interim president.
v. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of federal elections should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the registrar general shall become interim president.
vi. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, and the registrar general should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the longest-tenured eligible senator shall become interim president.
vii. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, the registrar general, and every senator should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the chief justice of the supreme court shall become interim president.
viii. The interim president shall relinquish the powers and duties of the presidency to the constitutional president upon the termination of the inability or vacancy.

Section 4 (Declination)
i. Any officer may decline to assume the presidency or to act as president, in which event the presidency shall pass to the next eligible officer in the line of succession. A declination must be made in the form of a public post in the "Swearing in of New Officers" thread.
ii. An officer may decline the presidency in silentia, by a failure to swear the oath of office within twenty-four (24) hours of the creation of the vacancy or the declination of the previous eligible officer.
iii. An officer may decline the presidency in abstentia if the shall have made no posts on the Atlas Fantasy Government or Atlas Fantasy Elections boards or their several subforums within fifty-six (56) days of the creation of the vacancy, or shall have made no posts on the Atlas forum within twenty-one (21) days of the creation of the vacancy, and they shall fail to swear the oath of office before the next eligible officer shall do so.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Aye

[Kuumo]

Aye

[WD]

Aye

[S019]

AYE

[Senator-elect Spark]

Aye

[AGA]

Aye

[Saint Milei]

aye

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Aye

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

aye

[Joseph Cao]

Aye.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

This bill has enough votes to pass. Senators have 24 hours to change their vote.

[If my soul was made of stone]

AYE

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

With eleven votes in favor, none opposed, and seven members not voting, the bill is passed.

Vote on Presidential Succession Act of 2021:

Aye (11): Scott, Kuumo, Western Democrat, S019, Spark, AGA, DeadPrez, Weatherboy, KoopaDaQuick, Joseph Cao, discovolante
Nay (0): 
Abstain (0):

Didn't vote (6): FalterinArc, Muad'dib, North Carolina Yankee, OBD, Old School Republican, tack50

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

AN ACT
To revise the presidential line of succession, in accordance with the Fifth Constitution of Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia:

Section 1 (Title)
i. The title of this act shall be, the "Presidential Succession Act of 2021."

Section 2 (Line of succession)
i. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of the president, if there is no vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate shall become president.
ii. If the president pro tempore should be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of state shall become president.
iii. If both the president pro tempore and the secretary of state should be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the attorney general shall become president.
iv. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, and the attorney general should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of federal elections shall become president.
v. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of federal elections should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the registrar general shall become president.
vi. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, and the registrar general should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the longest-tenured eligible senator shall become president.
vii. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, the registrar general, and every senator should all be ineligible to assume the presidency, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the chief justice of the supreme court shall become president.
viii. Once the eligible officer shall have sworn the oath of office, in accordance with the law, they shall continue as president for the remainder of the existing term.

Section 3 (Interim president)
i. In the event of the temporary inability of the president or the temporary vacancy of the presidency, if there is no vice president, the president pro tempore of the Senate shall become interim president.
ii. If the president pro tempore should be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of state shall become interim president.
iii. If both the president pro tempore and the secretary of state should be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the attorney general shall become interim president.
iv. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, and the attorney general should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the secretary of federal elections shall become interim president.
v. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of federal elections should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the registrar general shall become interim president.
vi. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, and the registrar general should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the longest-tenured eligible senator shall become interim president.
vii. If the president pro tempore, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of federal elections, the registrar general, and every senator should all be ineligible to act as president, or should decline, or if there be no incumbent at the moment of the creation of the vacancy, the chief justice of the supreme court shall become interim president.
viii. The interim president shall relinquish the powers and duties of the presidency to the constitutional president upon the termination of the inability or vacancy.

Section 4 (Declination)
i. Any officer may decline to assume the presidency or to act as president, in which event the presidency shall pass to the next eligible officer in the line of succession. A declination must be made in the form of a public post in the "Swearing in of New Officers" thread.
ii. An officer may decline the presidency in silentia, by a failure to swear the oath of office within twenty-four (24) hours of the creation of the vacancy or the declination of the previous eligible officer.
iii. An officer may decline the presidency in abstentia if the shall have made no posts on the Atlas Fantasy Government or Atlas Fantasy Elections boards or their several subforums within fifty-six (56) days of the creation of the vacancy, or shall have made no posts on the Atlas forum within twenty-one (21) days of the creation of the vacancy, and they shall fail to swear the oath of office before the next eligible officer shall do so.

Passed 11-0-0-6 in the Atlasian Senate assembled,

Scott, President pro tempore

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Aye FTR