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  Planning for Emerging Threats: Rethinking the Presidential Line of Succession

  Fordham Law School Rule of Law Clinic, Gregory Ascher, Myrna Nakhla, and Colin Shea

  From the COVID-19 pandemic to the Ukraine war, recent events have highlighted possible threats to the continuity of presidential leadership. The presidential line of succession in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 has several flaws. Some of the successors it designates might be ill-suited to discharge the powers of the presidency. Others concerns include its constitutionality, inappropriate incentives it might create, and the democratic legitimacy of outcomes it might produce. This report proposes several reforms to the line of succession for pre- and post-inaugural succession contingencies.

  Date: August 2022

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  Ensuring Continuity of Congress

  Fordham Law School Rule of Law Clinic, Rachida Mecheri, Bryce Robins, and Benjamin Roth

  Throughout its history, the U.S. Congress has had several brushes with catastrophe that threatened to prevent it from functioning or to change its balance of power. This report advances reforms to ensure that Congress can continue functioning if many of its members die or become incapacitated or if lawmakers' ability to meet at the Capitol is challenged. It recommends procedures for (1) rapidly replacing members of Congress in the event of mass death or incapacity; (2) declaring members of Congress incapacitated during an emergency; and (3) implementing emergency protocols.

  Date: August 2022

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  Changing Hands: Recommendations to Improve New York’s System of Gubernatorial Succession

  Fordham Law School Rule of Law Clinic, Ian Bollag-Miller, Stevenson Jean, Maryam Sheikh, and Frank Tamberino

  Despite the frequency with which the state’s highest executive offices have changed hands, New York is unprepared to deal with a panoply of issues relating to its constitution’s gubernatorial succession provisions. In this report, the Fordham Law School Rule of Law Clinic proposes reforms to address four principal issues with the existing gubernatorial succession provisions: gubernatorial inability, gubernatorial absence, lieutenant governor replacement, and the gubernatorial line of succession.

  Date: June 2022