Elected in 1993 as a “mom in tennis shoes,” Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, D-Wash., has risen to become second in line for the presidency amid a battle over House speaker.
After Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted as speaker on Tuesday, the job has temporarily passed to House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, RN.C.
Normally, the presidential line of succession goes from the vice president to the speaker of the House, then passes to the president pro tempore of the Senate before descending through the list of Cabinet officials.
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Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray has risen to become second in line for the presidency amid a battle over House speaker.
However, as interim speaker, McHenry is not counted in the line of presidential succession – meaning the list goes up somewhere for everyone on it.
Murray, as president pro tempore of the Senate, is currently second in line to take the presidential oath of office, if President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are unable to fulfill their duties.
Fox News Digital reached out to Murray’s office but did not receive a response.
“Patty first got involved in politics to fight politicians who were trying to cut a preschool program her children counted on,” the senator’s campaign website read.
Patty Murray, as president pro tempore of the Senate, currently follows Vice President Kamala Harris in the line of succession. (Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)
“When a lawmaker told her she couldn’t make a difference because she was ‘just a mom in tennis shoes,’ she realized that if she wanted change, she had to lace up those tennis shoes and fight,” his website continues.
“So she called other moms and dads, she organized rallies and phone banks, she fought, and she won,” it read.
Murray was selected last year to be Senate president pro tempore by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., who skipped Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., for duty.
The president pro tempore is a position laid down by the Constitution to preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president. It is a largely powerless office because Senate party leaders control legislative traffic on the floor.
After Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speakership on Tuesday, the job was temporarily handed to House Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The Presidential Succession Act, however, makes the president pro tempore third in the line of succession, after the vice president and House speaker.
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Traditionally, the president pro tempore job goes to the most senior senator in the majority party.
On Tuesday, McCarthy was ousted as speaker along with every Democrat in the chamber at the time, including several Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida. vote to remove.
Caroline McKee and Tyler Olson of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
