{ "id": "R44781", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44781", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 580085, "date": "2018-04-12", "retrieved": "2018-04-16T13:07:13.745167", "title": "U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives", "summary": "United States Senators serve a term of six years. Vacancies occur when an incumbent Senator leaves office prematurely for any reason; they may be caused by death or resignation of the incumbent, by expulsion or declination (refusal to serve), or by refusal of the Senate to seat a Senator-elect or -designate. \nAside from the death or resignation of individual Senators, Senate vacancies often occur in connection with a change in presidential administrations, if an incumbent Senator is elected to executive office, or if a newly elected or reelected President nominates an incumbent Senator or Senators to serve in some executive branch position. The election of 2008 was noteworthy in that it led to four Senate vacancies as two Senators, Barack H. Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, were elected President and Vice President, and two additional Senators, Hillary R. Clinton of New York and Ken Salazar of Colorado, were nominated for the positions of Secretaries of State and the Interior, respectively. Following the election of 2016, one vacancy was created by the nomination of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Since that time, one additional vacancy has occurred and one has been announced, for a total of three since February 8, 2017. \nAs noted above, Senator Jeff Sessions resigned from the Senate on February 8, 2017, to take office as Attorney General of the United States. The governor of Alabama appointed Luther Strange III to fill the vacancy until a successor was elected. Doug Jones was elected at the December 12, 2017, special election; he was sworn in on January 3, 2018, and will serve through the balance of the term, which expires in 2021.\nSenator Al Franken of Minnesota resigned from the Senate on January 2, 2018. On December 12, 2017, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to fill the vacancy. Senator Smith was sworn in on January 3, 2018. She will serve until a special election is held on November 6, 2018, to fill the seat for the balance of the term, which expires in 2021.\nSenator Thad Cochran of Mississippi resigned from the Senate on April 1, 2018. Governor Phil Bryant appointed Cindy Hyde-Smith to fill the vacancy. Senator Hyde-Smith was sworn in on April 9, 2018. She will serve until a nonpartisan special election contested by all qualified candidates is held on November 6. A majority of votes is required to elect. If no candidate wins a majority, the two who gained the most votes will contest a November 27 runoff. The winning candidate will serve for the balance of the term, which expires in 2021. Senator Hyde-Smith brings the number of women Senators to a record total of 23.\nThe use of temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies is an original provision of the U.S. Constitution, found in Article I, Section 3, clause 2. The current constitutional authority for temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies derives from the Seventeenth Amendment, which provides for direct popular election of Senators, replacing election by state legislatures. It specifically directs state governors to \u201cissue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.\u201d Since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, the Senate records currently identify 198 appointments to fill vacancies in the office of U.S. Senator.\nDuring the period since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, most states have authorized their governors to fill Senate vacancies by temporary appointments. At present, in 35 states, these appointees serve until the next general election, when a permanent successor is elected to serve the balance of the term, or until the end of the term, whichever comes first. Ten states authorize gubernatorial appointment, but require an ad hoc special election to be called to fill the vacancy, which is usually conducted on an accelerated schedule, to minimize the length of time the seat is vacant. The remaining five states do not authorize their governors to fill a Senate vacancy by appointment. In these states, the vacancy must be filled by a special election, here again, usually conducted on an accelerated schedule. In one notable detail concerning the appointment process, six states require their governors to fill Senate vacancies with an appointee who is of the same political party as the prior incumbent. \nFollowing the emergence of controversies in connection with the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Barack Obama in 2008, several states eliminated or restricted their governors\u2019 authority to fill Senate vacancies by appointment, while both legislation and a constitutional amendment that would have required all Senate vacancies to be filled by special election were introduced in the 111th Congress. None of these measures reached the floor of either chamber, however, and no comparable measures have been introduced since that time.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44781", "sha1": "64be9a615de6ee54134750eb7a1a48da5eb3e64f", "filename": "files/20180412_R44781_64be9a615de6ee54134750eb7a1a48da5eb3e64f.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44781", "sha1": "2ae22d84a1afb9a470a0ab2ea0128ee49fbd9d8e", "filename": "files/20180412_R44781_2ae22d84a1afb9a470a0ab2ea0128ee49fbd9d8e.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 577611, "date": "2018-01-12", "retrieved": "2018-01-16T23:07:37.963360", "title": "U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives", "summary": "United States Senators serve a term of six years. Vacancies occur when an incumbent Senator leaves office prematurely for any reason; they may be caused by death or resignation of the incumbent, by expulsion or declination (refusal to serve), or by refusal of the Senate to seat a Senator-elect or -designate. \nAside from the death or resignation of individual Senators, Senate vacancies often occur in connection with a change in presidential administrations, if an incumbent Senator is elected to executive office, or if a newly elected or reelected President nominates an incumbent Senator or Senators to serve in some executive branch position. The election of 2008 was noteworthy in that it led to four Senate vacancies as two Senators, Barack H. Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, were elected President and Vice President, and two additional Senators, Hillary R. Clinton of New York and Ken Salazar of Colorado, were appointed Secretaries of State and the Interior, respectively. \nOne Senate vacancy occurred in connection with the 2016 presidential election, when Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama resigned from the Senate on February 8, 2017, to accept the position of Attorney General of the United States. On February 9, the governor of Alabama appointed Luther Strange III, the state Attorney General to fill the vacancy. Senator Strange, who was sworn in the same day, held the office until a successor elected in a special election was sworn in. Doug Jones was elected at the December 12, 2017, special election. His election was certified on December 28, and Senator Jones was sworn in on January 3, 2018. He will serve through the balance of the term, which expires in 2021.\nSenator Al Franken of Minnesota resigned from the Senate on January 2, 2018. On December 12, 2017, Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to fill the vacancy. Senator Smith was sworn in on January 3, 2018. She will serve until a special election is held on November 6, 2018, to fill the seat for the balance of the term, which expires in 2021. \nThe use of temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies is an original provision of the U.S. Constitution, found in Article I, Section 3, clause 2. The current constitutional authority for temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies derives from the Seventeenth Amendment, which provides for direct popular election of Senators, replacing election by state legislatures. It specifically directs state governors to \u201cissue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.\u201d Since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, the Senate records currently identify 195 appointments to fill vacancies in the office of U.S. Senator.\nDuring this period, since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, most states have authorized their governors to fill Senate vacancies by temporary appointments. At present, in 35 states, these appointees serve until the next general election, when a permanent successor is elected to serve the balance of the term, or until the end of the term, whichever comes first. Ten states authorize gubernatorial appointment, but require an ad hoc special election to be called to fill the vacancy, which is usually conducted on an accelerated schedule, to minimize the length of time the seat is vacant. The remaining five states do not authorize their governors to fill a Senate vacancy by appointment. In these states, the vacancy must be filled by a special election, here again, usually conducted on an accelerated schedule. In one notable detail concerning the appointment process, four states require their governors to fill Senate vacancies with an appointee who is of the same political party as the prior incumbent. \nFollowing the emergence of controversies in connection with the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Barack Obama in 2008, several states eliminated or restricted their governors\u2019 authority to fill Senate vacancies by appointment, while both legislation and a constitutional amendment that would have required all Senate vacancies to be filled by special election were introduced in the 111th Congress. None of these measures reached the floor of either chamber, however, and no comparable measures have been introduced since that time.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44781", "sha1": "604cdf952ef8787c3231ad95e71c312079999e99", "filename": "files/20180112_R44781_604cdf952ef8787c3231ad95e71c312079999e99.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44781", "sha1": "4efa8beeee8f621e467d5530fe30432625cc9822", "filename": "files/20180112_R44781_4efa8beeee8f621e467d5530fe30432625cc9822.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 576234, "date": "2017-11-30", "retrieved": "2017-12-12T14:21:29.012052", "title": "U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives", "summary": "United States Senators serve a term of six years. Vacancies occur when an incumbent Senator leaves office prematurely for any reason; they may be caused by death or resignation of the incumbent, by expulsion or declination (refusal to serve), or by refusal of the Senate to seat a Senator-elect or -designate. \nAside from the death or resignation of individual Senators, Senate vacancies often occur in connection with a change in presidential administrations, if an incumbent Senator is elected to executive office, or if a newly elected or reelected President nominates an incumbent Senator or Senators to serve in some executive branch position. The election of 2008 was noteworthy in that it led to four Senate vacancies as two Senators, Barack H. Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, were elected President and Vice President, and two additional Senators, Hillary R. Clinton of New York and Ken Salazar of Colorado, were appointed Secretaries of State and the Interior, respectively. \nOne Senate vacancy occurred in connection with the 2016 presidential election, when Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama resigned from the Senate on February 8, 2017, to accept the position of Attorney General of the United States. On February 9, the governor of Alabama appointed state Attorney General Luther Strange III to fill the vacancy. Senator Strange, who was sworn in the same day, would hold office until a special election could be held to fill the seat for the balance of the current term, which expires in 2021. The special election was scheduled for December 12, 2017.\nThe use of temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies is an original provision of the U.S. Constitution, found in Article I, Section 3, clause 2. The current constitutional authority for temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies derives from the Seventeenth Amendment, which provides for direct popular election of Senators, replacing election by state legislatures. It specifically directs state governors to \u201cissue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.\u201d Since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913, the Senate records currently identify 195 appointments to fill vacancies in the office of U.S. Senator.\nDuring this period, since ratification of the Seventeenth Amendment, most states have authorized their governors to fill Senate vacancies by temporary appointments. At present, in 35 states, these appointees serve until the next general election, when a permanent successor is elected to serve the balance of the term, or until the end of the term, whichever comes first. Ten states authorize gubernatorial appointment, but require an ad hoc special election to be called to fill the vacancy, which is usually conducted on an accelerated schedule, to minimize the length of time the seat is vacant. The remaining five states do not authorize their governors to fill a Senate vacancy by appointment. In these states, the vacancy must be filled by a special election, here again, usually conducted on an accelerated schedule. In one notable detail concerning the appointment process, four states require their governors to fill Senate vacancies with an appointee who is of the same political party as the prior incumbent. \nFollowing the emergence of controversies in connection with the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Barack Obama in 2008, several states eliminated or restricted their governors\u2019 authority to fill Senate vacancies by appointment, while both legislation and a constitutional amendment that would have required all Senate vacancies to be filled by special election were introduced in the 111th Congress. None of these measures reached the floor of either chamber, however, and no comparable measures have been introduced since that time.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44781", "sha1": "a918c4416fc316c7c32a256c765f185125c64ddb", "filename": "files/20171130_R44781_a918c4416fc316c7c32a256c765f185125c64ddb.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44781", "sha1": "1f77432e040a0bd345c4d654f4108424656b5f55", "filename": "files/20171130_R44781_1f77432e040a0bd345c4d654f4108424656b5f55.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 459562, "date": "2017-03-10", "retrieved": "2017-03-10T20:30:18.280939", "title": "U.S. Senate Vacancies: Contemporary Developments and Perspectives", "summary": "United States Senators serve a term of six years. Vacancies occur when an incumbent Senator leaves office prematurely for any reason; they may be caused by death or resignation of the incumbent, by expulsion or declination (refusal to serve), or by refusal of the Senate to seat a Senator-elect or -designate. \nAside from the death or resignation of individual Senators, Senate vacancies often occur in connection with a change in presidential administrations, if an incumbent Senator is elected to executive office, or if a newly elected or reelected President nominates an incumbent Senator or Senators to serve in some executive branch position. The election of 2008 was noteworthy in that it led to four Senate vacancies as two Senators, Barack H. Obama of Illinois and Joseph R. Biden of Delaware, were elected President and Vice President, and two additional Senators, Hillary R. Clinton of New York and Ken Salazar of Colorado, were appointed Secretaries of State and the Interior, respectively. \nOne Senate vacancy occurred in connection with the 2016 presidential election, when Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama resigned from the Senate on February 8, 2017, to accept the position of Attorney General of the United States. On February 9, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley appointed state Attorney General Luther Strange III to fill the vacancy. Senator Strange, who was sworn in the same day, will hold office until a special election is held to fill the seat for the balance of the current term, which expires in 2020.\nThe use of temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies is an original provision of the U.S. Constitution, found in Article I, Section 3, clause 2. The current constitutional authority for temporary appointments to fill Senate vacancies derives from the 17th Amendment, which provides for direct popular election of Senators, replacing election by state legislatures. It specifically directs state governors to \u201cissue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.\u201d Since ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, the Senate records currently identify 195 appointments to fill vacancies in the office of U.S. Senator.\nDuring this period, since ratification of the 17th Amendment, most states have authorized their governors to fill Senate vacancies by temporary appointments. At present, in 35 states, these appointees serve until the next general election, when a permanent successor is elected to serve the balance of the term, or until the end of the term, whichever comes first. Ten states authorize gubernatorial appointment, but require an ad hoc special election to be called to fill the vacancy, which is usually conducted on an accelerated schedule, to minimize the length of time the seat is vacant. The remaining five states do not authorize their governors to fill a Senate vacancy by appointment. In these states, the vacancy must be filled by a special election, here again, usually conducted on an accelerated schedule. In one notable detail concerning the appointment process, four states require their governors to fill Senate vacancies with an appointee who is of the same political party as the prior incumbent. \nFollowing the emergence of controversies in connection with the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Senator Barack Obama in 2008, several states eliminated or restricted their governors\u2019 authority to fill Senate vacancies by appointment, while both legislation and a constitutional amendment that would have required all Senate vacancies to be filled by special election were introduced in the 111th Congress. None of these measures reached the floor of either chamber, however, and no comparable measures have been introduced since that time.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44781", "sha1": "3f526142d8d38f5cf3268e2d32424eae58f1d544", "filename": "files/20170310_R44781_3f526142d8d38f5cf3268e2d32424eae58f1d544.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44781", "sha1": "a9db8e208049cd23c9042b340161d3d60767b0a2", "filename": "files/20170310_R44781_a9db8e208049cd23c9042b340161d3d60767b0a2.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Constitutional Questions" ] }