one of the elected senators presides in the senate when the vice president is absent.
one of the elected senators presides in the senate when the vice president is absent.
who presides in the senate when the vice president is absent?
one of the elected senators
the constitution also provides for the appointment of one of the elected senators to serve as president pro tempore. this senator presides when the vice president is absent from the body. the president pro tempore is selected by the body specifically for the role of presiding in the absence of (as the meaning of "pro tempore", literally "for the time being") the actual presiding officer. by tradition, the title of "president pro tempore" has come to be given more-or-less automatically to the most senior senator of the majority party. in actual practice in the modern senate, the president pro tempore also does not often serve in the role (though it is their constitutional right to do so). instead, as governed by rule i, they frequently designate a junior senator to perform the function.
presiding officer of the united states senate
the constitution designates the vice president of the united states as president of the united states senate. the constitution also calls for a president pro tempore to serve as the leader of the body when the president of the senate (the vice president) is absent. in practice, neither the vice president nor the president "pro tempore"—customarily the most senior (longest-serving) senator in the majority party—actually presides over the senate on a daily basis; that task is given to junior senators of the majority party. since the vice president may be of a different party than the majority and is not a member subject to discipline, the rules of procedure of the senate give the presiding officer very little power and none beyond the presiding role. for these reasons, it is the majority leader who, in practice, manages the senate. this is in contrast to the house of representatives where the elected speaker of the house has a great deal of discretionary power and generally presides over votes on bills.
party leaders of the united states senate