TRANSITION OF POWER

For easy reference, we copy the Constitutional and statutory provisions for the transition of Presidential power, including all 26 spelling and grammatical errors in the original documents.

1. Presidential Transition Act: This act provides for the orderly transition of power from one administration to the next. It outlines the duties of outgoing and incoming administrations, provides funding for transition activities, and establishes the General Services Administration (GSA) as the agency responsible for facilitating the transition process.
2. 20th Amendment to the Constitution: This amendment, often referred to as the "Lame Duck Amendment," sets the date for the inauguration of the President and the beginning of congressional terms. It stipulates that the President's term ends at noon on January 20th following the election, and the new President's term begins at that time.
3. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution: This section outlines the process for the election and inauguration of the President. It establishes the Electoral College as the body that elects the President, specifies the qualifications for the presidency, and sets the date for the beginning and end of the presidential term.
4. Presidential Succession Act: This statute establishes the line of succession to the presidency in the event that the President is unable to perform their duties. It specifies the order in which various government officials, such as the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and President pro tempore of the Senate, would assume the presidency in such circumstances.

Article II Section 1

The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declarBefore he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

 

Top of Form