Welcome to today's deep dive. Today we're looking
at one of the most misunderstood. Absolutely.
Yet quietly powerful positions in American politics.
The president pro tempore of the United States
Senate. Right. It's a fascinating role. It really
is. I mean, when you hear that title, you might
just picture an older politician lightly banging
a gavel in a in a mostly empty room. Which, to
be fair, is what it looks like on TV. Yeah, exactly.
But the reality of this office is deeply tied
to the very continuity of the U .S. government.
We are talking about being a heartbeat or maybe
two away from the presidency. Navigating some
wild 19th century succession crises. Right. And
quietly wielding a surprising amount of modern
day authority. Our mission today is to unpack
a comprehensive Wikipedia article about the president
pro tempore of the U .S. Senate, peeling back
the layers of constitutional history, ceremonial
quirks and real world power to understand what
this role actually does. Because there's a lot
hiding under the surface there. There really
is. OK, let's unpack this. Where exactly does
the basics of this title even come from? So if
you look at Article 1, Section 3 of the U .S.
Constitution, the vice president is the official
president of the Senate. Right. Currently, J
.D. Vance. Exactly. But the VP is often absent.
They have a lot of executive branch duties to
handle. So the Senate needs a backup. Makes sense.
The framers mandated that the Senate choose president
pro tempore, which is Latin for the time being.
For the time being, right. Yeah. Basically, someone
to act in their place whenever. The VP isn't
there. And as a listener, you know, you might
just see the title and think it's purely a ceremonial
gabble banger, but it is deeply tied to how our
government stays intact. Oh, absolutely. But
the way they actually fill the role today is
entirely different from what the framers probably
envisioned. How so? Well, technically, they're
elected by the Senate as a whole, usually by
unanimous consent. Just everyone agreeing, no
formal roll call. Right. But it's become this
incredibly rigid custom since 1945, starting
with Kenneth McKellar. They simply give the title
to the most senior senator of the majority party.
Just an automatic seniority thing. Pretty much.
So right now, as of January 3, 2025, that's Republican
Chuck Grassley. And just before him in 2023,
Democrat Patty Murray was the pro tem. And she
actually made history by becoming the first woman
to hold the position. She did. Yeah. But the
irony of this whole unwritten seniority custom.
is what it does to the daily grind of the Senate.
Right. Because these senior senators are incredibly
busy. Exactly. They're chairing major, highly
demanding committees. They have packed schedules.
So the person officially tasked with presiding
over the Senate in the vice president's absence.
Is almost never actually presiding over the daily
sessions. Right. They just don't have the time.
So they outsource it. They rotate junior senators
from the majority party through the chair. They
call them the acting president pro tempore. Which
is basically an informal on the job. training
program. Yeah. You see these first term senators
up there on C -SPAN in an empty chamber. It forces
them to stay awake and absorb parliamentary procedure.
It really does. What's fascinating here is how
the pro -chem's power actually compares to the
vice president's power inside that chamber. Right,
because you'd think they'd have the same authority.
You would. But unlike the vice president, the
pro tem cannot cast a tie -breaking vote when
the Senate is evenly divided. Because they've
already cast their regular vote as a sitting
senator. Exactly. They don't get two votes. So
their day -to -day legislative power is pretty
limited compared to, say, the Senate majority
leader. But they do get a nice bump in pay. Oh,
they do. The salary for the pro tem in 2024 was
$193 ,400, which equals the majority and minority
leaders. So it is worth noting that number hasn't
been adjusted since 2009. True. But it is wild
to think of this role as just procedural or a
training program for junior senators when you
consider what happens if a true disaster strikes.
Yeah, that changes the math completely. So why
should you care about this ceremonial title?
Well, it puts them directly on the presidential
line of succession. Under the 1947 Presidential
Succession Act, the pro tem is third in line
for the presidency. Right behind the vice president
and then the speaker of the House, currently
Mike Johnson. And just ahead of the secretary
of state, currently Marco Rubio. Which means
they have to be treated like a walking contingency
plan. Right. They are one of the very few members
of Congress entitled to a full -time dedicated
security detail. It's a huge deal. And they also
have these hidden emergency powers, right? Yeah,
these quiet authorities that operate in the background.
For example, under the 25th Amendment, if the
U .S. president is unable to perform their duties.
Or if they're recovering and ready to come back.
Right. There are exactly two people who legally
must receive those formal declarations. The Speaker
of the House. and the president pro tempore.
They also received the War Powers Act reports.
If the executive branch starts military action,
the pro tem has to be notified. And if they are,
they, along with the speaker, can actually force
Congress back into session. They're essentially
the legal anchors for the legislative branch
during a crisis. So what does this all mean?
Basically, the pro tem is a vital constitutional
failsafe. When standard operating procedures
completely break down, they are the glue. And
you really see how high those stakes can get
when you look at how this failsafe was tested
back in the 19th century. Oh, man. The 1800s
were wild for this office. Between 1792 and 1886,
they were actually second in line for the presidency.
Right. Ahead of the Speaker of the House. And
back then, the vice presidency was empty all
the time. Ten separate times between 1812 and
1889. Because of death or resignation. And they
couldn't just appoint a new VP back then. You
had to wait for the next election. Exactly. So
the pro tem frequently functioned as an acting
vice president. They were literally the next
person in line for years at a time. Which brings
up a great piece of trivia from the source material.
John Tyler is the only Senate president pro tempore
to ever actually become president of the United
States. Though a few others came unbelievably
close. Yes. The 1868 impeachment paradox. This
is one of my favorite historical close calls.
It's a perfect example of how the person holding
the gavel can change history. So President Andrew
Johnson is impeached and facing trial in the
Senate. And he didn't have a vice president at
the time. Which meant the pro tem, Benjamin Franklin
Wade, was next in line. Right. If the Senate
convicted Johnson, Wade would instantly become
president. But the Senate was the jury. Exactly.
They were voting on whether to hand the presidency
to their own colleague. And historians believe
that Wade's political radicalism is the main
reason Johnson survived. Yeah. Moderate Republicans
were terrified of Roe v. Wade. They hated his
agenda, especially on Reconstruction. So they
acquitted Johnson largely because they deeply
disliked Roe v. Wade and just didn't want him
in the White House. They kept a weakened president.
just to block the pro tem. Amazing. And then
there's Thomas Ferry in 1875. Another incredibly
close call. Vice President Henry Wilson died,
making Ferry next in line. And he had to preside
over the intensely disputed 1876 electoral commission,
Hayes versus Tilden. Right. The country was on
the brink of chaos with competing electors. And
Ferry was just sitting there as a ticking clock.
If that electoral college vote wasn't certified
just two days before the inauguration. Ferry
would have become the acting U .S. president.
Congress barely beat the buzzer. They certified
Hayes on March 2. 48 hours away from the presidency.
It really highlights how vulnerable the system
used to be. I mean, there were times when the
U .S. had no president of the Senate and no pro
tem at all. Yeah, three specific times. In 1850
after Zachary Taylor died. In 1881, after James
A. Garfield died. That gap lasted for several
weeks. And again in 1885, for almost two weeks
after Vice President Hendricks died. Just no
failsafe in place at all. If the sitting president
died during those windows, the continuity of
government would have just shattered. Completely
naked. Which is why they overhauled the succession
line in 1886. Here's where it gets really interesting,
though. You'd think the chaos stopped in the
19th century, but the 20th and 21st centuries
had their own bizarre quirks. Oh, absolutely.
The 1911 standoff is a perfect example. William
P. Fry, who holds the record for the longest
tenure, 1896 to 1911, he resigns and passes away,
and the Senate just completely fractures trying
to replace him. Right. It was a three -way split.
progressive Republicans, conservative Republicans,
and Democrats. And nobody would budge. They were
deadlocked for four months over a basic constitutional
position. Their compromise was so convoluted.
It's hilarious. They let Democrat Augustus Bacon
serve for exactly one day, August 14th, 1911.
One day. And then for the rest of the session,
they just rotated five different senators through
the job. A complete political timeshare. Just
to appease everyone, if we connect this to the
bigger picture, You can really see how modern
history has forced the role to adapt during actual
crises, not just political squabbles. Like after
9 -11. Right. During the September 11 attacks,
security protocols changed everything. When George
W. Bush addressed the joint session of Congress,
Vice President Dick Cheney was taken to a secure
location as the designated survivor. So he could
not preside. Exactly. Pro Tem Robert Byrd stepped
in to preside over the joint session. Having
him up there provided visual and structural spility
for the country. And we saw something similar,
structurally speaking, during Donald Trump's
second impeachment trial in 2021. Yes. Usually
the chief justice presides over a presidential
impeachment trial. But Trump was no longer a
sitting president when the trial began. Right.
Because of that distinction, the chief justice
did not preside. Patrick Leahy, the pro tem.
presided instead. It's like whenever the standard
machinery doesn't quite fit the situation, they
reach for the pro tem. They do. And speaking
of reaching for things, we have to talk about
all the weird spinoff titles the Senate invented
for this role. Oh, yes, the subtitles. Because
it's the Senate, they couldn't just leave it
alone. Never. First, you have the permanent acting
president pro tempore. Which is an incredible
oxymoron. It really is. That went to Lee Metcalf
from 1963 to 1978. The actual pro tem, Carl Hayden,
was ill. So they made Metcalf permanent acting
and he just kept the title for 15 years. Then
they invented the deputy president pro tempore
in 1977. Which was purely a consolation prize.
Literally. Hubert Humphrey lost his bid for Senate
Majority Leader so they created this title just
for him. Any former president or VP in the Senate
automatically got it. But George Mitchell was
the only other person to hold it in 1987. It's
been vacant since 1989. And the most common modern
spinoff is President Pro Tempore Emeritus. Created
in 2001 for Strom Thurmond. Right. Because party
control flipped, Democrat Robert Byrd became
the actual pro tem and they gave Thurmond this
new honorary title. It's for a minority party
senator who used to be pro tem. Byrd, Ted Stevens,
Patrick Leahy, Chuck Grassley and Patty Murray
have all held it. It comes with no floor duties,
but historically it got you an increased staff
budget. Of course it did. Though I think its
source noted that budget bump was phased out
a few years ago. Yeah, towards the end of the
113th Congress. But it's still a highly prestigious
honor. Definitely. We have covered a ton of ground
today, from a basic mandate for a missing vice
president to 19th century succession crises to
a modern role that blends mundane daily chores
with massive constitutional weight. It is so
much more than an older senator holding a gavel.
It really is. And this raises an important question
that you really have to consider. Since 1945,
the Senate has simply handed this immense constitutional
responsibility. being third in line to the nuclear
codes, to whichever majority senator has been
sitting in the chamber the longest. Just based
on tenure. Right. In a modern world defined by
rapid crises and a need for dynamic leadership,
is relying on an unwritten seniority custom really
the safest way to pick the person who might suddenly
have to lead the free world? Something to seriously
think about. Thank you for joining us on this
deep dive. We hope you walk away with a totally
new appreciation for the hidden architecture
of the Senate. Keep asking questions, stay insanely
curious, and keep exploring the fascinating structures
hiding right in plain sight. See you next time.