Nov 12, 2024 - Politics & Policy

What happens to Congress, governor seats vacated by Trump's cabinet picks

Sareen Habeshian

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 04: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump watches as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks during a campaign rally at the J.S. Dorton Arena on November 04, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina. With one day left before the general election, T — President-elect Trump watches as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks during a campaign rally on Nov. 4 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President-elect Trump is tapping Republican lawmakers and governors to staff his incoming administration, leaving open seats to be filled across the country.

Why it matters: Those vacancies mean voters could head to the polls for another round of special elections only months after handing Republicans the keys to Washington, and governors will be weighing candidates to take empty Senate seats.

State of play: Gubernatorial, House and Senate vacancies are filled differently.

To fill governor vacancies, 45 states have a lieutenant governor who assumes the position. In the remainder, the spot is filled with either the president of the state senate or the secretary of state.
In the House, the chief executive of each state is to call for an election to fill the vacancy, per Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.
While the seat is vacant, the office of the former representative remains open and is operated under the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
In the Senate, the governor of the state is to call an election to fill a vacancy. In the meantime, the state's legislature can authorize the governor to make a temporary appointment until the special election, the Seventeenth Amendment states.
In most states, a special election is held during the next regularly scheduled election to replace the temporary Senate appointee. But in about a dozen states, a stand-alone special election is held at an earlier date.

Yes, but: States can exercise their constitutional discretion in filling Senate vacancies in different ways, per the Congressional Institute.

While most states allow the governor to make a temporary Senate appointment, a handful of states — Kentucky, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin — fill the vacancies only through elections.

Zoom out: In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio's reported selection as secretary of state could hand Gov. Ron DeSantis, who will be termed out as governor in 2026, a political lifeline with a seat in the Senate, Axios' Yacob Reyes reports.

With Rubio's term set to end in 2028, a resignation would grant DeSantis the power to appoint a successor — one who would serve until a special election in 2026, creating an opportunity for DeSantis to run for the open seat in a special election.

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What happens to Congress, governor seats vacated by Trump's cabinet picks

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