Elections & terms
line of succession
Who acts as President if the office is vacant: Vice President, Speaker, Senate president pro tempore, then the Cabinet in order of each department's creation.
In full
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment makes the Vice President President on death, resignation, or removal. Beyond the VP, the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 orders the line: Speaker of the House, president pro tempore of the Senate, then Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, and onward by department seniority. The same amendment provides for temporary transfers of power and for a Cabinet-and-VP declaration of presidential inability.
Also written as: presidential succession
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.