Nelson Rockefeller was also confirmed this way as Ford's Vice President.
The 12th Amendment requires a majority of House delegations to elect a President, and the Senate requires only a majority to elect a Vice President.
I'm not following.
The Electoral College elects both the President and Vice President. The Senate requires a majority to confirm a nominee to fill a vacancy, not to elect.
The 12th Amendment gives the House until March to decide. This is probably anachronistic today.
If the House cannot agree on a President, then it will likely also disagree on a Vice President, which the 12th Amendment calls on to be Acting President after March.
I would suppose at some point the Speaker would become Acting President? I don't think an Acting President has the power to nominate a Vice President.
-PJ
From Amendment XII:
..from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.
....
from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.
...
As I say, just one delegation tied by historical standards is low. States with say 4 representatives have frequently had 2R and 2D in their delegations for instance.
Do you agree it’s harder for the House to break an Electoral College deadlock (for the Presidency) than it is for the Senate to break an Electoral College deadlock (for the Vice Presidency)? No party having a majority of delegations is much more common than a tie in the Senate (and even then, the old VP can vote until his term expires on January 20).
Similarly, it would be easier for an Acting President to get a Vice President confirmed by a majority of both Houses (Amendment 25) than it would be for the House to break the electoral college deadlock. If one party controlled the majority of delegations and the other controlled the majority of seats (as we have now), it would be a very contentious process.
If that were to happen - I don’t know if the House could, at some point in the term - agree on a 12th amendment selection for President - what would happen.
I’m thinking that the vote would stand, and the 12th amendment President would become President, the Acting President would become Vice President (the post which the Senate actually elected him for), and then the 25th Amendment Vice President would be out the door.
I’m sure none of this was thought of when the 25th amendment was ratified....or maybe it was.
I did forget about Nelson Rockefeller, yes.