Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), President pro tempore of the Senate. Click on picture for larger image

The position of President pro tempore is set forth in the Constitution (Article I, sec. 3), which requires the Senate to elect a President pro tempore to preside over the Senate in the absence of the President of the Senate (the Vice-President of the United States.) The Latin term "pro tempore" means for a time only, i.e. a temporary substitute.

The Senate tradition is to elect the majority party Senator with the longest continuous service to the post. In this Congress, that is Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV). Until the shift in majority control of the Senate to the Democrats on June 6, 2001, the post of president pro tem was held by Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC).

The President pro tempore is also named in statute as third in the line of succession to the Presidency, right after the Vice-President and the Speaker of the House. In the frequent absences of the Vice-President from the Senate, the PPT is also authorized to sign enrolled bills on behalf of the Senate and to administer oaths of office. Election to the post of President pro tempore is considered a mark of respect and honor within the Senate. It also earns the Senator holding the position additional salary, office space, and staff.

The President pro tempore's seniority means that he is also a committee chairman and therefore most PPTs have spent little time presiding over the Senate. In daily practice, the PPT appoints junior first-term Senators to preside on a rotating basis throughout the day as "acting" PPT. More senior Senators take the Chair only on rare occasions. This long standing practice to use freshmen in the presiding role reveals that the job of presiding over the Senate is not a very powerful position in the Senate. The chair in the Senate has far fewer procedural powers than the chair in the House. The distinction is due to the fact that the presiding officer of the Senate symbolizes the Vice-President, who is from the executive branch and not a member of the legislature. In contrast, the presiding officer in the House is either the Speaker or his designee, and therefore brings a great deal of political clout and procedural power to the chair.