president pro tempore is the presiding officer of the senate when the vice president is not there.
president pro tempore is the presiding officer of the senate when the vice president is not there.
who is the presiding officer of the senate when the vice president is not there?
president pro tempore
according to of the u.s. constitution, the senate is allowed to establish, for itself, its own rules of operations, including the roles and duties of the presiding officer. those rules are known as the standing rules of the united states senate, and rule i deals with the appointment of a person to act as the chair, or presiding officer, for normal senate proceedings. it recognizes the constitutionally mandated roles of vice president and president pro tempore, but goes further to allow for the appointment of an acting president pro tempore, and further allows for the president pro tempore to also designate any other senator to perform his duties. as a result, during the day-to-day operation of the body, it is rare for the actual presiding role to be handled by the president pro tempore (and rarer still for the vice president to do so). instead, a designated junior senator is most commonly appointed to do the job.
presiding officer of the united states senate
when debate concludes, the motion in question is put to a vote. the senate often votes by voice vote. the presiding officer puts the question, and members respond either "yea/aye" (in favor of the motion) or "nay" (against the motion). the presiding officer then announces the result of the voice vote. a senator, however, may challenge the presiding officer's assessment and request a recorded vote. the request may be granted only if it is seconded by one-fifth of the senators present. in practice, however, senators second requests for recorded votes as a matter of courtesy. when a recorded vote is held, the clerk calls the roll of the senate in alphabetical order; senators respond when their name is called. senators who were not in the chamber when their name was called may still cast a vote so long as the voting remains open. the vote is closed at the discretion of the presiding officer, but must remain open for a minimum of 15 minutes. a majority of those voting determines whether the motion carries. if the vote is tied, the vice president, if present, is entitled to cast a tie-breaking vote. if the vice president is not present, the motion fails.
united states senate