I’ve had my beefs with Steny Hoyer in the past, but I’ve been mostly satisfied with the House leadership group of Nancy Pelosi, Hoyer, and Jim Clyburn. If their time in power is indeed coming to an end irrespective of the outcome of the midterms, I think historians will give them incredibly high marks for what they accomplished. Pelosi may be considered among the most effective Speakers of the House in our nation’s history, and that’s setting aside the trail she blazed for women.

If Hakeem Jeffries of New York becomes the next leader of the House Democrats, and many expect, his trail will have been blazed in large part by Clyburn who proved quite capable in his role as whip, and always carried himself with dignity and professionalism.

But Pelosi and Clyburn are 82 years old, and Hoyer is eighty-three. By contrast, Jeffries is 52, and fellow contenders for leadership spots Katherine Clark (59) and Pete Aguilar (43) would breath new life and vitalism into the party.

These changes are going to happen whether or not the Democrats hang onto control of the House. On the other hand, win or lose, we’ll probably see no changes in the Senate leadership, at least for the top positions. We’ll continue to see Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin in charge, with Patty Murray and Debbie Stabenow in the third and fourth positions, respectively.

One thing to watch, however, is the position of Senate Pro Tempore, currently held by the longest serving Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. It’s important because it’s third in the line of succession to the presidency. As of today, if Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Pelosi were to die or be incapacitated,  Leahy would become our president. Leahy is retiring, however, and if the Democrats retain their majority the new Senate Pro Tempore would be Dianne Feinstein of California, who unfortunately appears to be suffering for a bit of mental decline.

She should not be in the line of succession, and she probably can’t handle the other duties of the job.

The Constitution instructs the Senate to choose a president pro tempore to preside over the Senate in the absence of the vice president. Pro tempore is a Latin term meaning “for the time being,” signaling that the position was originally conceived as a temporary replacement. The framers of the Constitution assumed that the vice president would preside over the Senate on a regular basis, so the Senate would only need to elect a president pro tempore to fill in as presiding officer for short periods of time.

Although the Constitution does not specify who can serve as president pro tempore, the Senate has always elected one of its members to serve in this position. Since the mid-20th century, tradition has dictated that the senior member of the majority party serve as president pro tempore.

In addition to presiding over the Senate, the president pro tempore fulfills a number of other responsibilities. In consultation with Senate leaders, for example, the president pro tempore appoints the director of the Congressional Budget Office (jointly with the Speaker of the House), as well as Senate legislative and legal counsel. The president pro tempore also makes appointments to various national commissions and advisory boards and receives reports from certain government agencies.

In the absence of the vice president, the president pro tempore may administer all oaths required by the Constitution, may sign legislation, may jointly preside with the Speaker of the House when the two houses sit together in joint sessions or joint meetings, and may fulfill all other obligations of the presiding officer. Unlike the vice president, however, the president pro tempore cannot vote to break a tie in the Senate.

Feinstein may not seek the position, but in any case, she should not have it.