The Doomsday Bill: Congress After September 11

On July 30, 2005, Congress approved a plan that would quickly replace members of the House in the event that a large portion of them may die in an attack or disaster of any kind. This Bill, called the Doomsday Bill, would require special elections within 49 days if more than 100 of the House’s 435 members were killed. Constitutional amendments in the US require a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Congress and ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures. 

Since September 11, 2001, there have been multiple evacuations of the Capitol due to incidents large enough to cause alarm. New procedures such as this Doomsday Bill are said by Congress to leave too much power in the hands of the president during a national emergency. So why do we have a president if he’s not apt to handle such situations? 

Representative Brian Baird, one of few lawmakers active on the issue commented that "Changing what constitutes a quorum in this way would allow less than a dozen lawmakers to declare war on another nation." 

Normally, 218 lawmakers out of the 435 members are needed to declare war, pass laws and validly conduct the people’s business. But under the new rule a majority is no longer needed when circumstances arise, including natural disaster, attack, contagion or terrorist attacks rendering representatives incapable of attending House proceedings.