President Julie Su?

In the case of catastrophe, there exists the presidential line of succession.  It starts with vice president, that we all know, but then continues on through the Speaker of the House, the Senate President Pro Tem, and then down into the cabinet.

In other words, if the top 8 federal officials should die simultaneously (or nearly) the 9^th person on the list becomes president – right now, that person is Acting Secretary of Labor – and former California labor secretary – Julie Su.

At least that’s what the White House says, and that is a problem.

Tuesday, 30 Republican Senators sent a joint letter to President Biden demanding Su be removed from the line succession, a line – again, via the website – she only joined on July 20^th – well after she became acting secretary but, not at all coincidentally, the same day the administration said they were giving up on trying to get the Senate to confirm her but keeping her in the job under a Labor Department – specific law that allows her to remain “acting” secretary until a new secretary is confirmed by the Senate.

Su has not been able – and will not be able – to corral the 50 votes (VP Harris would break the tie) in the Senate to actually get officially confirmed as Secretary. Her gross incompetence as California labor secretary – the unemployment agency she oversaw was defrauded of up to $40 billion dollars during the pandemic – and her hard ties to Big Labor make more than a few moderate Democrat senators very leery of her.

Her semi-permanent position as acting secretary was confirmed by the Government Accountability Office last month but the ruling made no mention of the line of succession.

Her position on the succession list also directly contradicts the provisions of the 1947 Presidential Succession Act.  The act lays out the order of succession but specifically states it “shall apply only to such officers as are eligible to the office of President under the Constitution. Subsection (d) shall apply only to officers appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate…”

Su has not been appointed “with the advice and consent of the Senate” – seems pretty airtight, right?  The Biden administration appears to differ and that has drawn the ire of the senators.

“It is unimaginable to think that this Administration believes someone who has neither been duly elected nor confirmed by the Senate to the position of Secretary of Labor could be President of the United States,” reads the letter. “Suggesting that Ms. Su is eligible to be in the presidential line of succession is antithetical to our system of governance and the bedrock principles on which our Republic rests.”

The issue has been raised before. A report from the American Enterprise Institute/Continuity of Government Commission specifically asked Congress to “Clarify in Law That Acting Secretaries of Departments Are Not in the Line of Succession.”

Even though the 1947 Succession Act seems clear, the Commission worried that any potential grey area could be disastrous in the midst of the kind of event that would make any Secretary of Labor president (the report was issued last December, prior to Su becoming Acting Secretary.)

The senators, led by Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Katie Britt of Alabama – noted this is not the first time the Biden administration has – at the most innocently – misinterpreted the law.

“While you and your Administration have clearly decided to ignore congressional intent in keeping Ms. Su in place in her current role, it would be unfortunate if you have decided to further discount congressional intent – and violate the law – by taking the position that Ms. Su is eligible for placement in the presidential line of succession,” continued the senators.

Requests for comment from The White House and the Department of Labor were not responded to prior to the deadline for this story.  If responses are forthcoming, the story will be updated.