constitutional-law president congress
In the show &quot;Designated Survivor,&quot; all Congressman but 1 are killed, and the President desperately wants to nominate a new Congress. Why?
<p>Why is it so important to the excecutive branch that there is a full Congress? Can action not be taken by the sole remaining Congressman, or is the problem that this Congressman would have way too much power? </p>

<h2>No, action cannot be taken by the remaining Congresspeople<sup>1</sup></h2>

<p>Section 5 Clause 1 of the Constitution says:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and <strong>a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business</strong>;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There are 100 senators and 435 members of the house - you need 51 senators and 218 members for each house to "do Business". Until at least half the vacancies are filled no business of Congress can be conducted.</p>

<p>When there are casual vacancies in the Senate (e.g. because the Senator got blown up during the State of the Union), the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Seventeenth Amendment</a> requires that an election be held to choose a replacement.  The amendment also allows states to empower their governors to appoint a replacement until such election can be held.  In practice, <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/vacancies-in-the-united-states-senate.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a majority of states (but by no means all)</a> allow the governor to appoint a replacement, and then hold an election for the replacement at the time of the next general election. </p>

<p>When there are casual vacancies in the House, the legislature of the relevant state has to call an election to fill the vacancy (Section 2 Clause 4).</p>

<p><sup>1</sup> My recollection is that there was more than one survivor and I distinctly remember the Speaker was a woman.</p>
