148 



CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



to discharge the duties of his place, and does not re- 

 sign his office ; or whenever lie has in any manner, 

 or for any cause, forfeited or lost the confidence upon 

 the strengtli of which he was elected. 



" That is the common law applicable to all 

 deliberative bodies who elect their presiding 

 officers ; and the reason is just as strong here 

 as it is anywhere else. Now, let me consider 

 for a momeDt the arguments that have been 

 offered on the other side. First, the argument 

 'offered by my friend from North Carolina 

 (Mr. Merrimon). He admits that the Senate 

 can remove a President pro tempore for cause. 



" The Senate, according to his admission, 

 may of its own motion change this officer ; he 

 says ' for cause.' Who is to judge of that 

 cause? The Senate. Whether it be good 

 cause or bad cause, indifferent cause or no 

 cause at all, the Senate is the exclusive judge of 

 it. It may be because he has committed high 

 crimes and misdemeanors, or it may be that he 

 does not represent the sentiments of a ma- 

 jority of the body, or that he is not satisfac- 

 tory as a presiding officer, or for any other 

 reason. The Senate may remove him, he says, 

 for cause. Well, as the Senate is the exclu- 

 sive judge of that cause, it seems to me that 

 admits the whole case. When the Senate 

 comes to make the removal, it is not bound 

 to assign a cause ; it is not bound to give any 

 reason for it. It is presumed there must be 

 some cause, but whether the cause is sufficient, 

 reasonable, or unreasonable, the Senate is the 

 exclusive judge. Therefore it amounts simply 

 to this, that the Senate, according to his own 

 admission, may change the Presiding Officer at 

 pleasure." 



Mr. Norwood, of Georgia, said : " Suppose 

 the President of the United States were to die 

 to-day ; would not our present President pro 

 tempore be President of the United States to- 

 morrow ; and, if so, could we change him, and 

 elect another man to that office to-morrow 

 morning? Would he not become instantly 

 upon the death of the President of the United 

 States the occupant of the executive office? 

 Could we then to-morrow by a vote here 

 change that officer? " 



Mr. Morton : " I think I comprehend the 

 question of the Senator from Georgia, and 

 that it is this : When the duties of President of 

 the United States are devolved upon the Presi- 

 dent pro tempore of the Senate by the death of 

 the President of the United States, can the 

 Senate then change the President pro tempore 

 at pleasure, and thus in effect change the Ex- 

 ecutive of the nation ? That is the question. 

 Upon that point I am not prepared to answer. 

 I do not know what would be the effect of the 

 law of 1792; whether that law would have 

 the effect to fix the tenure of the President 

 pro tempore or not ; but that it can have no 

 effect upon his office before the contingency 

 happens is perfectly clear. Until that time 

 comes the question suggested cannot be raised." 



Mr. Kernan, of New York, said : " Suppos- 



ing the President of the United States dies, 

 and the President pro tempore of the Senate 

 enters upon the functions, and is acting as 

 President, could not the Senate appoint a new 

 President pro tempore /" 



Mr. Morton : " That is precisely one of the 

 difficulties surrounding this question. That 

 contingency has never yet happened. It was 

 seriously discussed among Senators when the 

 impeachment of President Johnson was pend- 

 ing, whether, in case the President pro tempore 

 of the Senate should have the duties of the 

 President of the United States devolved upon 

 him, he would have to leave this Chamber, and 

 we elect another. That was a question which 

 was then considered ; and it is not free from 

 doubt. My own impression is that he is still 

 the President of the Senate, and that he has 

 the duties of President of the United States 

 devolved upon him in addition thereto ; and I 

 am informed, in regard to the President of the 

 Senate in one of the States upon whom the 

 office of Governor devolved, the Governor hav- 

 ing been impeached and removed from office, 

 that the construction there was given to a sim- 

 ilar provision that the President of the Senate 

 was still presiding officer of the body, and 

 came into the Senate every day and called the 

 body to order, and then called a member to the 

 chair. I believe that was the case in Arkansas." 



Mr. Norwood : " We are now construing a 

 clause in the Constitution which gives us pow- 

 er over the President pro tempore to make and 

 unmake him, as I understand the Senator from 

 Indiana to contend. Now, if his position be 

 correct, would it not follow that the act of 

 Congress would divest the Senate of a consti- 

 tutional power? The act provides for this 

 officer becoming President of the United 

 States, and in that event we should lose con- 

 trol of him. In that event the act of Congress 

 would supersede a power vested in the Senate 

 by a provision of the Constitution, which would 

 be a legal impossibility." 



Mr. Morton: "I said that that was a ques- 

 tion about which there was doubt ; but my 

 impression off-hand is that he would still be 

 President pro tempore of the Senate, even after 

 the duties of President of the United States 

 had been devolved on him under the act of 

 1792. But I say this in answer to my friend 

 from Georgia, that the effect'of the Constitu- 

 tion, what this provision means, certainly can- 

 not be changed by the subsequent passage of a 

 law. The act of 1792 can have no effect upon 

 the construction of this provision of the Con- 

 stitution." 



Mr. Norwood : " Now, then, if I understand 

 the Senator from Indiana, his position is that 

 notwithstanding the President might die to- 

 day and the President pro tempore of the Sen- 

 ate become President of the United States to- 

 morrow, by operation of the act of 1792, we 

 still could exercise our constitutional power 

 over that officer as the President of this body 

 and change him." 



