General Discussion

Tab

(11,093 posts) Fri Feb 12, 2016, 08:06 PM Feb 2016

"Birther / Naturalized citizen" question

So Trump is talking about suing Ted Cruz about birth status (and it'll be an issue if Ted makes it to the nominations, certainly if he gets the nomination). Anyway...

A President needs to be a natural born citizen. Is there a similar restriction on a vice president? Was the vice-president a contrived position - needed, I'm sure - but not written into the constitution?

So, horror of horrors, Trump gets the Presidency and Cruz is VP. Trump keels over from the stress of having to do real work. Normally the VP would become POTUS, but what if the VP didn't meet the presidential minimums? Or is it actually written that they must be? And if the VP was a foreign national, would that person get skipped and they go right to Speaker of the House (or whatever the descension chan is?)

5 replies

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Highlight:

"Birther / Naturalized citizen" question (Original Post) Tab Feb 2016 OP

The twelfth amendment to the constitution says NobodyHere Feb 2016 #1

Would that apply to everyone else down the chain? Tab Feb 2016 #2

She would just be skipped over as ineligible Yupster Feb 2016 #3

The Constitution gave Congress the authority to make that definition. former9thward Feb 2016 #4

I believe that person would simply not be in the line of succession. krispos42 Feb 2016 #5

NobodyHere

(2,810 posts)

1. The twelfth amendment to the constitution says

Reply to Tab (Original post)

Fri Feb 12, 2016, 08:13 PM

Feb 2016

"but no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States"

Tab

(11,093 posts)

2. Would that apply to everyone else down the chain?

Reply to NobodyHere (Reply #1)

Fri Feb 12, 2016, 08:27 PM

Feb 2016

The order of succession, I think, is:

POTUS
Vice Pres
Speaker of the House
Senate President Pro Tempore
Sec of State
Sec of Treasury
Sec of Defense
... and about 10 more, not sure what happens after that.

But let's say that in an imaginary case, the President/VP/Speaker/and Speaker Pro Tem are unable to serve for whatever reason. Now, the next in line is Secretary of State. Madeline Albright was SoS but I believe she was born in Czechloslovakia (or some easter European state). That technically would elevate her to President, but she wouldn't be a natural born citizen.

Yupster

(14,308 posts)

3. She would just be skipped over as ineligible

Reply to Tab (Reply #2)

Fri Feb 12, 2016, 08:31 PM

Feb 2016

if it fell to her.

There is no requirement of cabinet secretaries to be natural born citizens.

The question for Ted is "What is a natural born citizen,?" and the Constitution doesn't
explain that.

former9thward

(32,023 posts)

4. The Constitution gave Congress the authority to make that definition.

Reply to Yupster (Reply #3)

Fri Feb 12, 2016, 09:03 PM

Feb 2016

Article I, Section 8. In Rogers v. Bellei the Supreme Court said it was up to Congress. Congress has written the definition and Cruz is natural born.

krispos42

(49,445 posts)

5. I believe that person would simply not be in the line of succession.

Reply to Tab (Reply #2)

Fri Feb 12, 2016, 10:56 PM

Feb 2016

Even in the office is in the line, the person holding it has to be eligible or it simply goes down one more place.

I think I heard Secretary Albright taking about this once on a podcast or something when she was touring about her book.

It was a while ago, but I remember because I then spent some time on Wikipedia reading about it.

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