If the Vice President becomes President, the vice presidency sits empty until the new President nominates a replacement and both the House and the Senate confirm that person by majority vote. No one moves up automatically, and no official temporarily fills the role. That is the answer to who becomes Vice President if the VP becomes President, and it comes from Section 2 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967.1Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. 25th Amendment
How the New Vice President Is Chosen
Section 2 gives the sitting President the sole power to nominate. Once the nomination goes to Congress, both chambers hold hearings and vote separately. In the Senate, the Committee on Rules and Administration reviews the nominee.2U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Rules of the Senate In the House, the Judiciary Committee runs its own hearings.3Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum. Hearings on the Nomination of Gerald R. Ford to Be Vice President Committee members ask about background, finances, policy views, and qualifications. Then each chamber holds a floor vote.
Confirmation requires a simple majority in both the House and the Senate. Not a supermajority.1Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. 25th Amendment This is a stricter bar than most executive appointments, which need only Senate approval. The amendment sets no deadline for the President to send a name, so how quickly the seat gets filled depends on the President’s choice and Congress’s scheduling.
Once both chambers confirm, the new Vice President takes an oath and assumes the office.
Who Can Be Nominated
The Twelfth Amendment ties vice presidential eligibility directly to presidential eligibility: anyone constitutionally ineligible to serve as President is also ineligible to serve as Vice President.4Legal Information Institute. 12th Amendment That imports the three requirements from Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution:5Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov. Article 2 Section 1 Clause 5
- natural-born citizen of the United States
- at least 35 years old
- at least 14 years of residency in the United States
Beyond those minimums, the President has wide discretion. Political fit and the ability to win congressional support matter in practice, but they are not legal requirements.
What Happens While the Seat Is Empty
Nothing pushes another official into the vice presidency during the wait. The presidential line of succession applies only to the presidency, not to the second office. A common misunderstanding is that the Speaker of the House becomes Vice President when the office is vacant. That is not what the law does. The Speaker is next in line to act as President if the presidency also becomes vacant, under the Presidential Succession Act.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 3 USC 19 – Vacancy in Offices of Both President and Vice President; Officers Eligible to Act The vice presidency itself can only be filled through the Twenty-Fifth Amendment process.
The vacancy has one immediate practical effect on Congress. The Vice President normally presides over the Senate and casts the tie-breaking vote when senators split evenly.7Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov. President of the Senate The Senate’s President pro tempore can preside in the Vice President’s absence but does not inherit the tie-breaking vote.8Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov. Overview of Twenty-Fifth Amendment, Presidential Vacancy and Disability Any tied Senate vote during the vacancy simply fails.
The Two Times This Has Actually Happened
Section 2 has been used exactly twice, both during the Nixon-era crisis of the 1970s.
Gerald Ford, 1973
Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973. Two days later, President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald Ford. The Senate confirmed Ford on November 27, 1973, by a vote of 92–3, and the House followed on December 6, 1973, by 387–35.9Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum. The Establishment and First Uses of The 25th Amendment
Nelson Rockefeller, 1974
When Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, Ford became President and the vice presidency was empty again. Ford nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller on August 20, 1974. Confirmation took longer this time, partly because of extensive financial disclosures. Both chambers confirmed Rockefeller on December 19, 1974, and he was sworn in that same evening.10The American Presidency Project. Statement on the Confirmation of Nelson A. Rockefeller To Be Vice President of the United States
The two cases show the range: Ford’s confirmation ran about eight weeks from nomination to House vote, while Rockefeller’s took roughly four months. Both illustrate the same rule. The office stayed vacant until Congress voted, and only then did the country have a Vice President again.