Fact check: President Pelosi? No, House speaker wouldn’t assume role amid election delay. Sorry Nancy, you lose again!
The 20th Amendment says terms of senators and representatives end at noon Jan. 3. If a federal election were delayed, then no vote would take place to reelect or remove Pelosi from office. She, too, would have to step down from her position.
In this case, the president pro tempore of the Senate – next in line – would assume office as president. Currently, that person is Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
But there’s more. If no federal election took place, Pelosi wouldn’t be the only member of Congress to leave office. There are 35 senators up for re-election – 22 Republicans – and if they were all removed without any successors, the 100-member Senate would just have 65 members, with Democrats in the majority.
Because of that, those senators could technically then choose a new Senate president pro tempore, and thus, the president.
