Governmental Continuity: Who would follow?

Last night, during the State of the Union address, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales skipped the event in case of a catastrophic attack or accident. Tradition is for a member of the President's cabinet to miss the speech in case something were to happen -- wiping out the entire administration -- someone is still alive to be president.

But what if something happens to large portion of congressional members? How would the House and/or Senate carry on if many are incapacitated or dead? This is not so clear.

For those dead, the Constitution would prevent speedy filling of vacancies after an attack. And living, incapacitated members could not be replaced until the next election.

A bipartisan group Commission on the Continuity of Government made various recommendations to Congress. One is "a constitutional amendment to provide for the emergency interim appointments to the House in case of widespread death, and to both chambers in the case of widespread incapacitation. . ." Another, to revise the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, which they fell is out of date. And also propose a plan to replenish the Supreme Court if fell below six members.

Attempts to remedy the situation with legislation have failed. As Michael Grass at Readexpress.com puts it:

There have been various proposals introduced to address the situation, including a constitutional amendment by Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., that would have allowed for the temporary appointment of House members. That proposal was sunk in 2004 by Baird's fellow House members. A bill authored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis. — which would have required states to hold special elections with in 49 days of a declaration by the speaker that more than 100 members had been killed, passed the House in 2005, but died in the Senate.

Is this an issue important enough for the US government to tackle? Maybe it's a bit morbid to dwell on a catastrophic attack on Washington DC, but it's happened before and with a plane that was suppose to hit the congressional chamber, a second consideration could be worth it.

-Dippold

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