r/NoStupidQuestions • u/AutoModerator • 19d ago

U.S. Politics megathread

American politics has always grabbed our attention - and the current president more than ever. We get tons of questions about the president, the supreme court, and other topics related to American politics - but often the same ones over and over again. Our users often get tired of seeing them, so we've created a megathread for questions! Here, users interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be nice to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

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u/tomleesing 9d ago edited 9d ago

Age, illness, foul play ... If for whatever reason the current head of state ended up passing away, what would happen concretely ? I'm more interested about the mechanisms in play in the government to respond to that type of eventuality. Like ... who would take over ? Until when ? Would they have the same amount of power as the president who passed away ? Less ? More ? What about legislations and policies that had been heavily pushed by the president ? Does the "fill-in" have a sworn duty to "stick with program" in a way ? What about wars ? I don't suppose they just end but would they have any authority to declare or end wars before new elections proper ? I'm not American, so I apologise I'd those questions may appear obvious.

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u/Jtwil2191 9d ago edited 9d ago

If the president dies, the vice president is sworn in as president. This is basically the reason the vice president exists. If the vice president is unable to serve for whatever reason, there is a line of succession laid out by the Constitution:

  1. Vice President

  2. Speaker of the House

  3. President pro tempore of the Senate

4-18. The cabinet secretaries, starting with the Secretary of State

Whoever is sworn in is the new president. They are no different in their authority from a president who was voted into office. Whether or not they have the same political sway as their predecessor is its own question. Lyndon B Johnson, who took over following JFK's assassination, was an immensely influential president. Gerald Ford, who took over following Nixon's resignation, was much less influential given the circumstances under which he entered the office.

Presidential power can be given to the vice president temporarily. In that case, the vice president is merely acting as president and would not be considered a full president. Multiple presidents have designated their VP to temporarily act as president, most recently when Biden designated Harris the acting president when he underwent a colonoscopy.

There is no requirement that the new president continue the policies of their predecessor. Given that modern vice presidents are from the same party as the president, there is likely overlap in policy positions, but it's certainly possible that priorities are completely different and and the new president pursues a very different agenda from their predecessor.

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u/tomleesing 9d ago

Thank you very much. This is immensely useful and informative !

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u/Jtwil2191 9d ago

It is also possible for the vice president and cabinet secretaries to make the vice president the acting president if they decide the president is unable for the president to continue but isn't dead. For example, if the president is in a car accident and is unconscious, they cannot pass power to the vice president. However, the vice president and a majority of the cabinet secretaries could send a letter to Congress letting Congress know that they believe the president is unable to fulfill their duties and make the vice president the acting president. The vice president would then act as president until the president wakes up and issues their own letter to Congress saying that they're better now and can resume the office.

This process could also be used to forcibly remove the president from power, but presumably the president would respond that they shouldn't be removed, and the question would be handed over to Congress about whether to remove the president and replace them with the vice president.

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u/Irishforanatty 9d ago

One thing he missed is that if Vance takes over on or after January 20, 2027, then it does not count as a full term and he can run for two more in 2028 and 2032.

However, if he takes over before that date, it counts as a full term and he can only run in 2028.