Who Will Become President If Trump Is Impeached: Nancy Pelosi Or Mike Pence?

On the night of November 18, 2019, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, thus making him the third President in the history of America to be impeached by the Congress. The House voted in favour of two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The decision was taken after eight long hours of debate following a three-month enquiry by House Democrats into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. And now, the US Senate plans to hold a historic impeachment trial, beginning from January 2020, and decide whether Trump should be removed from office or not.

As per Article 2, Section 4, “the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours.” So, what the Senate decides remains to be seen. It also has to be kept in mind that the Senate has never voted to convict and remove a US president from office. Both Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998, were impeached by the house but acquitted by the Senate.

While the chances of Trump being removed from office are slim, there still stands the sly probability of...

Who would assume office in case the Senate does convict Trump?

As per the 25th constitutional amendment, which says that “in case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President”, Vice President will assume Trump’s position.

But if he is unable to do so, speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, would be the next US President. As per the Presidential Succession Act, passed in 1947 and amended in 2006, after the vice president, it is the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate who stand next in the line of succession. After them, it would be the Cabinet officials, the secretary of state, the secretary of the Treasury, the secretary of defence, and the attorney general, and standing last in the list is the secretary of homeland security.