Continuity of Government

Here is a followup to the previous post on the problem of having an elderly senator in the line of succession. The Continuity of Government Commission just issued another report:

The current constitutional and legal provisions fail to take into account the possibility of a catastrophic attack on Washington, D.C. Since all individuals included in the Presidential line of succession are based in our nation’s capital, a catastrophic attack on the city could potentially kill or incapacitate many if not all of these individuals and cause significant confusion about who can assume the powers of the presidency. With the inclusion of members of Congress and acting cabinet secretaries in the line of succession, all of whom must resign from their current positions before assuming the presidency and can then be “bumped” from the presidency by an individual ranking higher in the line of succession, it is possible to have no one remaining in the line of auccession. Current procedures leave our nation especially vulnerable at presidential inaugurations and State of the Union Addresses.