Traditionally, the order of the presidential line of succession is determined (after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and President pro tempore of the Senate) by the order of the creation of the cabinet positions, and the list as mandated under 3 U.S.C. § 19 follows this tradition. On March 9, 2006, 43rd President George W. Bush signed H.R. 3199 as Pub.L. 109–177, which renewed the still controversial Patriot Act of 2001 and amended the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 to include the newly-created Presidential Cabinet position of Secretary of Homeland Security in the line of succession after the previously authorized Secretary of Veterans Affairs (§ 503) (which are listed and designated in the order that their departments were created). In the 109th Congress, legislation was introduced to place the Secretary of Homeland
Traditionally, the order of the presidential line of succession is determined (after the Vice President, Speaker of the House, and President pro tempore of the Senate) by the order of the creation of the cabinet positions, and the list as mandated under 3 U.S.C. § 19 follows this tradition. On March 9, 2006, 43rd President George W. Bush signed H.R. 3199 as Pub.L. 109–177, which renewed the still controversial Patriot Act of 2001 and amended the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 to include the newly-created Presidential Cabinet position of Secretary of Homeland Security in the line of succession after the previously authorized Secretary of Veterans Affairs (§ 503) (which are listed and designated in the order that their departments were created). In the 109th Congress, legislation was introduced to place the Secretary of Homeland