Questions tagged [vice-president]

Questions related to the vice president of a state, the role of vice president is generally a high executive position.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
19 votes
2 answers
702 views

Why do US Presidents seem to have difficulty in complying with the laws on returning classified documents?

Why do US Presidents seem to have difficulty in complying with the laws on returning classified documents? One might expect that Presidents would have sufficient assistance in running their offices ...
  • 1,996
16 votes
2 answers
4k views

When was the last time a Vice President chose to let a tied Senate vote fail, without using their negative casting vote?

I was reading a recent question on why a Vice President might choose to use a negative casting vote on a tied vote in the Senate rather than just letting the motion fail by withholding their vote, ...
18 votes
3 answers
5k views

Why would a Vice President cast a negative vote?

The Constitution allows for the Vice President to vote on an issue if the vote is equally divided. There have been a number of occasions when the Vice President has cast a negative vote, see here. Why ...
  • 1,525
13 votes
1 answer
3k views

Are there cases in US history when the approval rating of the vice-president exceeded that of the POTUS for a substantial time?

Give that VP rating in the public eye seems to track pretty closely that of president, e.g. Are there cases when the VP was consistently rated higher than the president for a substantial amounts of ...
  • 126k
5 votes
1 answer
591 views

Could Republicans keep the Senate split 50-50 indefinitely by refusing to confirm a Vice President?

The United States Senate is currently (August 2021) split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. As such the Vice President gets the deciding vote: The Vice President of the United States shall be ...
  • 1,229
-3 votes
1 answer
464 views

What happens if the Vice President dies? [duplicate]

Anyone with a passing familiarity with US politics knows what happens in the event of the death of the President: the Vice President takes over, and next in line after the VP are several other people ...
8 votes
1 answer
646 views

Can the president of the Senate (Vice president) introduce a bill?

Regarding United States government, I am under the impression that the president of the Senate is (only?) used as a tie breaker in the event of a tie during a vote, but can they introduce bills like ...
6 votes
3 answers
4k views

Why hasn't Kamala Harris visited the US-Mexico Border?

Since Joe Biden put VP Harris in charge of the border migration back on March 24, 2021, VP Harris hasn't conducted a visit to the border. I am under the impression that it would be helpful for her to ...
  • 805
1 vote
1 answer
95 views

What if the Senate is 50-50 but there is not an incumbent vice president, and can a new vice president take office in this case? [duplicate]

So imagine the following scenario: Biden steps down for some reason and Harris becomes the president, then the senate becomes 50-50 with no incumbent vice president breaking the tie even if the ...
  • 279
3 votes
2 answers
874 views

What are the steps to fill a vacancy for vice president?

Suppose that it is 2007 and Dick Cheney is Vice President. He resigns to become a senator from Wyoming. What steps would be taken to fill this vacancy?
  • 43
8 votes
5 answers
687 views

If the Vice President undisputedly murdered the sitting President, is there anything stopping them from becoming President?

If the Vice President murdered the sitting President in cold blood for all to see, would they still become President? Would they simply get sworn in or is there a mechanism to stop them?
  • 4,341
6 votes
3 answers
2k views

Can vice president/security advisor or secretary of state be chosen from the opposite party?

As the title indicates, Can vice president/security advisor or secretary of state be chosen from the opposite party? If so, has there ever been an example?
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
752 views

What practical effect would a successful impeachment conviction of Joe Biden for his actions as Vice President have?

Background The same day President Joe Biden was inaugurated, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced articles of impeachment against him for his conduct as Vice President. As Vice President, ...
  • 5,396
50 votes
5 answers
8k views

What's the difference between a 51 seat majority and a 50 seat + VP "majority"?

The US Senate currently has a 50/50 split of Democratic (D) and Republican (R) caucus members. According to news reports, this has lead to "power sharing agreements" needing to be made ...
17 votes
1 answer
2k views

How unusual is a Vice President presiding over their own replacement in the Senate?

Yesterday, new Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the swearing-in of 3 new Senators, including her own replacement. This required her to read a statement which had her own name in it, so she ...
3 votes
3 answers
461 views

Can a vice-president vote for his successor in the Senate before becoming president under the 25th amendment?

What does the constitution prescribe in a situation where there is a 50-50 Senate, the president passes away or resigns, and the vice-president becomes the president? Section 2 of the 25th amendment ...
  • 33
16 votes
4 answers
2k views

Does a vice president retain their tie breaking vote in the Senate during an impeachment trial if it is the vice president being impeached?

If the vice president is the subject of an impeachment, does the vice president have a vote in the Senate trial of which they are the subject? Note: The constitution only mandates that the chief ...
1 vote
2 answers
222 views

Can the House of Representatives vote to impeach an acting President after the elected president was removed via the 25th Amendment?

If the Vice President in the form of an obviously unjust attempt to remove a fully capable President via the 25th Amendment were to become acting President would they be eligible for impeachment as ...
  • 2,016
35 votes
3 answers
7k views

Why is there no Vice Presidential line of succession?

Congress can confirm a new Vice President, but if Congress couldn't operate due to an emergency like the attack on the Capitol, then there would be no one to fill in the the Vice President. Why is ...
  • 2,016
16 votes
3 answers
3k views

Would Mike Pence become President if Trump was impeached and removed from office?

Let's assume President Trump is successfully impeached and removed from office on Monday/Tuesday (before his term expires and he leaves office on the 20th). Would Vice President Pence take over and ...
  • 177
17 votes
2 answers
3k views

If the VP resigns, can the 25th Amendment still be invoked?

There is current news of several of Trump's cabinet members resigning with Trump only having 13 days left in his presidency. Question: If Mike Pence were to resign his vice presidency, with such a ...
12 votes
1 answer
418 views

Can the POTUS forbid the VP from entering the West Wing or the main building of the White House?

After Pence rejected in writing the idea that he not open some electoral certificates, CNN reported on their live feed that President Trump told people he banned Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of ...
  • 126k
41 votes
5 answers
9k views

What authority does the Vice President have to mobilize the National Guard?

After the attack on the US Capitol by pro-Trump groups, the DC National Guard was eventually called in to restore order. Strangely, it is being reported that Vice President Mike Pence was the one who ...
  • 25.9k
17 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does a tie in the Senate require the vice president to always be present in the Senate?

Would the vice president be required to always be in the senate chamber in order to break ties? If not, how often must she be there -- or does she need to be there at all to vote her tie-breaker vote? ...
  • 273
17 votes
2 answers
3k views

What happens if the Vice-President were to die before presiding over the official electoral college vote count?

The President of the US Senate (who is the Vice-President ) is responsible for presiding over the electoral college's votes formally in a Joint Session of Congress. However, what if the Vice-President ...
14 votes
2 answers
4k views

Must the Vice President preside over the counting of the Electoral College votes?

The Vice President, being the President of the Senate, presides over the counting of the Electoral College votes during a joint session of Congress. Following the count, the VP then officially ...
  • 46.3k
23 votes
5 answers
4k views

Can the VP technically take over the Senate by ignoring certain precedents?

Here's an article about possible "hardball" tactics Democrats could use under Biden/Harris, if they don't get control of the Senate: https://reason.com/volokh/2020/12/11/potential-...
21 votes
4 answers
3k views

Is there a difference between a tie-breaker and a regular vote?

In the United States Senate, if there is a tie in a vote, the vice president breaks that tie. According to the senate.gov website, the vice president cannot vote except when breaking a tie. Is there ...
  • 1,991
4 votes
0 answers
127 views

Could Senator Harris ask for a briefing from Cabinet members?

Location: USA At this moment, it is widely reported that the curent president has ordered cabinet secretaries and executive department heads to not participate in any transition activities with the ...
  • 2,637
0 votes
0 answers
69 views

What happens if the would be president elect dies before the race is called? [duplicate]

This isn't specific to the recent election, but I will use the names Biden and Trump to explain myself more clearly. Assuming nothing changes with the current outcome of the election (eg. Biden is ...
2 votes
0 answers
57 views

If VP becomes POTUS, how often can he be elected as president afterwards [duplicate]

In the USA one can only be president for two legislative periods. Also, when a president is removed from office or dies, the vice president becomes president. Does this count as the VP's first term or ...
  • 121
1 vote
0 answers
87 views

Why is Joe Biden addressed as Vice President even if he's not the current one? [duplicate]

During interviews or debates, Joe Biden is often addressed as Mr. Vice President or referred to as Vice President Biden. This sounds very odd to my (Dutch) ears; nobody would address a former (prime) ...
  • 3,222
1 vote
1 answer
118 views

If topics "have not been released ahead of the debate" do the candidates have any information?

The most recent US vice-presidential debate had a rule saying that debate topics would not be released "ahead of the debate". Obviously, they know that certain topics are more likely to come ...
-4 votes
1 answer
244 views

With Trump in isolation, does the Constitution require transfer Commander-in-Chief powers to the Vice President?

The US President, Donald Trump, has announced that he has contracted COVID-19. Apparently, his physical capacity to execute his duties is unchanged at this time, but he went into isolation to not ...
  • 357
12 votes
2 answers
4k views

Must a minimum time pass before the Vice-President replaces the elected President in the US?

Imagine, that elected president is aged/ill in time of elections, so he can hardly perform his duty. But he was nominated for presidency and now is elected. Must a minimum time pass before the US Vice ...
  • 11.7k
-5 votes
1 answer
234 views

Has Biden explained why he didn't pick a Republican running mate?

I know Biden floated the idea of picking a Republican running mate at one point, but I don't know if he has explained why he eventually rejected the idea. Has Biden explained why he did not pick a ...
  • 29.9k
5 votes
2 answers
531 views

Is a presidential candidate required to pick a running mate?

If the Vice President dies or leaves office early, the President is not required to pick a new VP, making the Vice Presidency vacant. Does this mean that a presidential candidate does not have to ...
  • 59
3 votes
1 answer
321 views

Is it illegal to insert someone to the Presidency through Vice President?

What would happen if a general election candidate enters the race with no actual intention of acting as President but rather with the intention of winning the election then immediately resigning, ...
  • 1,961
6 votes
1 answer
166 views

The U.S. presidential candidate's choice of a running mate

In the United States, after all the long drawn out process of choosing the presidential nominee of a major party, is the selection of the vice presidential nominee the private decision of one person? ...
  • 209
0 votes
1 answer
916 views

Is Dick Cheney still supporting Donald Trump for re-election in 2020, given his recent public support for wearing face masks?

Dick Cheney supported Donald Trump in 2016 (in the general election), and indications were that he was going to support Trump in 2020 as well. In August 2019, he appeared at a fundraiser for Trump's ...
20 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why don't presidential candidates announce their running mates before achieving their party's nomination?

As far as I can tell, a candidate has only announced their running mate before achieving the nomination twice since the modern system of primaries came into use in the 1970s. These occasions were in ...
  • 96.2k
1 vote
1 answer
151 views

Term limits for vice president already having served as president [duplicate]

If a person becomes Vice President of the United States of America and the President dies after his 2nd year in office and the Vice President becomes President and serves for the remaining two years, ...
16 votes
2 answers
5k views

Does the Vice-President retain their tiebreaking vote during an impeachment trial of the President?

The Vice-President is the President of the Senate by the US Constitution. As President of the Senate, the Vice-President is empowered to preside over the Senate and cast a tie-breaking vote. The ...
  • 1,525
28 votes
6 answers
9k views

Can Vice President Pence be impeached before President Trump?

As I understand, the current vice president Mike Pence is next in line for the presidency should president Trump be removed from office. However, there's some links between Mike Pence and the ...
5 votes
1 answer
294 views

What are the negative consequences of returning to the practice of assigning the Vice Presidency to the Presidential Runner up?

From my understanding, the practice was eliminated due to partisanship sometime in the early 1800s. It seems like an excellent way to increase bipartisanship as we are in a more informed and civilized ...
5 votes
0 answers
224 views

On the mandatory IRS audit of sitting president and vice-president

It's been reported that the sitting president and vice president are subject to mandatory IRS audit. Two questions regarding this: Is there some statutory authority that requires the IRS to conduct ...
  • 10.2k
26 votes
3 answers
7k views

Legally speaking in the United States, could a former two-term president be vice president? [duplicate]

Legally speaking, is there any laws against a former president that has served 2 terms from being vice president?
  • 4,341
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Impeachment trial proceedings of a Vice President

Since the Vice President is also president of the Senate, what mechanism is there to prevent him from presiding over his own impeachment trial? Article I Section 3 of the Constitution makes no ...
  • 101
9 votes
2 answers
4k views

Can a vice president's vote be considered to create the presence of a quorum

In the advice and consent process, should the minority party refuse to participate in a floor vote and the majority has only 50 members, can the vice president's presence for a vote create a quorum?
24 votes
5 answers
10k views

What power does the Vice President really have?

According to the Constitution, the Vice President is the head of the Senate, but doesn't really explain what that means except to say that he doesn't get to vote except to break a tie. Aside from ...
  • 11.5k