@Tarnagh I've heard conflicting stuff about whether she gets to pick a VP or if that's automatically Hakeem Jeffries according to the order of succession

@Fellixe

Best hope not. If it's automatically based on the order of succession, she gets Johnson (Speaker of the House) not Jeffries.

#politics

@Fellixe

#politics

https://www.factcheck.org/2008/04/replacing-the-vice-president/

"...the speaker does not move into the office of vice president. The legislation only specifies who is to become president.

When the position of vice president becomes vacant, the 25th Amendment states:

25th Amendment: Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress."

@Tarnagh Which would effectively mean no VP for the duration because ain't no way the R's would vote to confirm anyone and D's lack even a majority. @Fellixe
#politics

@Ironworker229 @Fellixe

Ugh. Leaving my original response below but reading comprehension is obviously not my strong point tonight. Derp. ☹️

I'm not sure they would get a say. It specifically says the *president* chooses. Whether the R's like it or not.

@Tarnagh Yes, but the president chooses SCOTUS nominees, too. If approval is needed by a simple majority of both houses...
"Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress." Guess what? No vote will come to the floor. And no harm, no foul- I have good and not-so-good moments, as do we all. 👍
@Fellixe

@Tarnagh I like these exchanges because it forces me to re-learn things. AP American Studies was a looong time ago! @Fellixe

@Ironworker229 @Fellixe

Yeah, anything I know about this is stuff I've learned well after high school so it doesn't always stick with me very well.

@Fellixe @Tarnagh

No, it's very clear in the Constitution, and the process has already been tested twice. The Speaker is in line to become President *only if* both President and Vice President are dead or otherwise cannot fill the office.

If the Vice Presidency is vacated, it's up to the President to pick a new VP.

When Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973, Nixon picked Gerald Ford. Speaker Carl Albert did not become VP.

When Ford became President, he picked Nelson Rockefeller. Same thing.

@DavidSalo @Fellixe

See, I thought that was right but my brain can be a f*cky place.

I did just look it up and 100% you are correct. 🙂

@Tarnagh @Fellixe

Entertaining this purely as a hypothetical case, if Kamala were to become President, the one person she couldn't pick who would otherwise be at the top of people's shortlists is Gavin Newsom, because they're both from California.

To be more exact: she could make him VP, but she couldn't run with him as her VP candidate.

To be even more precise: she could run with him, but only if they're prepared to sacrifice California's electoral votes, which is a very bad idea.