House of Representatives Selects Bush
The decision is rapid and painless in the House: every Member votes along party lines, so 27 states go into the Bush category. Gore won fewer than 20 states. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert announces that George Bush will be the next president, for a four-year term beginning on January 20.
A few Representatives offer procedural objections, but the decision sticks.
Shortly after the House makes its decision, the Senate convenes to pick the Vice President, as required by the Twelfth Amendment. There is very little dispute or disagreement in the Senate; instead of voting along party lines, the Senators have decided to pick the Vice President who ran with the candidate picked by the House. The Senate therefore selects former Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney to be Vice President.
At noon on January 20, 2001, Governor George Bush becomes the 43rd President of the United States. Secretary Cheney is made the 46th Vice President.
As a result of the unusual 2000 election, Congress and the state legislatures start to consider changes to the electoral system. In addition to efforts to replace the Electoral College with a direct popular vote, there are also attempts to prevent TV networks from announcing winners on election night -- but they are stymied in the courts on First Amendment grounds.
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