Everything about President Pro Tempore Of The United States Senate totally explained
The
President pro tempore of the Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the
United States Senate and the highest-ranking senator. The
Vice President of the United States is the
President of the Senate ex officio, and thus is the highest-ranking official of the Senate; during his absence, the President
pro tempore is the highest-ranking official in the Senate and may preside over its sessions. The President pro tempore is elected by the Senate; by custom, the President pro tempore is the most senior senator in the majority party. Normally, neither the Vice President of the United States nor the President pro tempore presides; instead, the mundane duty is generally delegated to junior senators of the majority party. The President pro tempore is third in the
line of succession to the Presidency, after the
Vice President of the United States and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The current President pro tempore of the Senate is
Robert Byrd (
D-
West Virginia). He replaced
Ted Stevens (
R-
Alaska), who held the office from
January 3,
2003 to
January 4,
2007.
Power and responsibilities
The President pro tempore is an office of the Senate mandated by
Article I, section 3 of the
Constitution. Although the position is in some ways equivalent to the
Speaker of the House of Representatives, the powers of the President pro tempore are far more limited. In the Senate, most power rests with party leaders and individual senators. But as the chamber's presiding officer in the absence of the
Vice President, the President pro tempore is authorized to perform certain duties, including ruling on points of order and enforcing decorum in the Senate chamber and galleries. The President pro tempore also signs legislation passed by the Senate before it's sent to the President for his signature. The President pro tempore represents the Senate at formal events.
Presidential disability and succession
The President pro tempore is one of the two authorities to whom declarations of presidential inability or of ability to resume the presidency must be transmitted under the
25th Amendment to the Constitution. (The Speaker of the House is the other.) The President pro tempore is third in the line of
presidential succession, following the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.
History
The office of President pro tempore was established in 1789 by the
Constitution of the United States. Originally, the President pro tempore was appointed on a daily or weekly basis when the
Vice President of the United States wasn't present to preside over the Senate. Until the
1960s, it was common practice for the Vice President to preside over daily Senate sessions, so the President pro tempore rarely presided over the Senate unless the Vice Presidency became vacant.
Until 1891, the President pro tempore only served until the return of the Vice President to the chair or the adjournment of a session of Congress. Between 1792 and 1886, the President pro tempore was second in the line of
presidential succession following the Vice President and preceding the
Speaker of the House of Representatives. Thus, when President
Andrew Johnson was
impeached and tried in 1868, Senate President pro tempore
Benjamin Franklin Wade was next in line to the Presidency. Wade's radicalism is thought by many historians to be a major reason why the Senate, which didn't want to see Wade in the
White House, acquitted Johnson. The President pro tempore and the Speaker were removed from the line of succession in 1886, but were restored in 1947. This time, however, the President pro tempore followed the Speaker.
Following the resignation for health reasons of then-President pro tempore
William P. Frye, a Congress divided between progressive Republicans, conservative Republicans, and Democrats reached a compromise by which each of their candidates would rotate holding the office from 1911 to 1913. (See
Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate, 1911-1913.)
Related officials
Acting President pro tempore
The President pro tempore, just like the Vice President, over time has ceased presiding over the Senate on a daily basis, owing to the mundane nature of the position. Furthermore, as the President pro tempore is now usually the most senior senator of the majority party, he or she most likely also chairs a major Senate committee, along with other duties this status entails. Therefore, the President pro tempore has less time now than in the past to preside daily over the Senate. Instead, junior senators of the majority party are designated acting President pro tempore to preside over the Senate on a daily basis. This allows junior senators to learn proper parliamentary procedure.
Permanent Acting President pro tempore
In June 1963, because of the illness of President pro tempore
Carl Hayden, Senator
Lee Metcalf was designated
Permanent Acting President pro tempore. No term was imposed on this designation, so Metcalf retained it until he died in office in 1978.
Deputy President pro tempore
The ceremonial post of
Deputy President pro tempore was created for
Hubert Humphrey, a former
Vice President of the United States, in 1977 following his losing bid to become the
Senate majority leader. The Senate resolution creating the position stated that any former
President of the United States or
Vice President of the United States serving in the
United States Senate would be entitled to this position. Since Humphrey's death in 1978, no other former President or Vice President has served in the Senate. As of 2007, if they successfully sought election to the Senate, four living Presidents, (
Jimmy Carter,
George H.W. Bush,
Bill Clinton, and
George W. Bush), and four living Vice-Presidents, (
Walter Mondale,
Dan Quayle,
Al Gore, and
Dick Cheney), are eligible for the position of Deputy President pro tempore. Former Vice-President
Walter Mondale's failed
2002 Senate election bid is the only time this appeared to be a real possibility.
When the President pro tempore becomes unable to perform the duties of office for an extended period, the current practice is to elect a Senator as Deputy President pro tempore, as opposed to a Permanent Acting President pro tempore, to carry out the duties until the President pro tempore can resume the duties.
George J. Mitchell was elected Deputy President pro tempore in 1987-1988, because of the illness of President pro tempore
John C. Stennis. The office to date has remained vacant.
Hubert Humphrey and
George J. Mitchell are the only Senators to date that have held the title.
The post may be purely honorary and ceremonial, but nevertheless, it comes with a salary. By statute, the compensation granted to the position holder equals the rate of annual compensation paid to the President pro tempore, Majority Leader, and
Minority Leader. (
See .)
President pro tempore emeritus
President pro tempore emeritus is an honorary title given to a member of the minority party in the
United States Senate who has previously served as President pro tempore. Thus, a new person gains the title only when party control of the Senate changes.
Ted Stevens, a
Republican from
Alaska, has held the title since
January 4,
2007. Stevens served as President pro tempore from
2003 to 2007.
The position was created in 2001 when the Democratic Party regained a majority in the Senate. With the change in party control, Democrat
Robert Byrd of
West Virginia was elected President pro tempore, reclaiming a position he'd previously held from
1989 to
1995 and again briefly earlier in 2001. The President pro tempore who had held the office under Republican control,
Strom Thurmond of
South Carolina was elected President pro tempore emeritus. Thurmond served in that capacity from
June 6,
2001 until his retirement from the Senate on
January 3,
2003 which coincided with another party change (from Democratic to Republican control) making Byrd the second President pro tempore emeritus.
While the President pro tempore emeritus has no official duties, he's entitled to an increase in staff.
(External Link
)The President pro tempore emeritus also works closely with party leaders and advises them on the functions of the Senate.
A President pro tempore emeritus whose party regains the majority can also serve again as President pro tempore, as happened at the beginning of the
110th Congress on
January 4,
2007. When party control changed from Republican to Democratic,
Robert Byrd reclaimed the position of President pro tempore from
Ted Stevens, who became the third President pro tempore emeritus.
Salary
The salary of the President pro tempore for 2006 was $183,500, equal to that of the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of both Houses of Congress. The salary increased to $188,100 in January 2008.
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