Resignation from the United States Senate (original) (raw)

A member of the United States Senate can resign by writing a letter of resignation to the governor of the state that the senator represents. Under Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States, and under the Seventeenth Amendment, in case of a vacancy in the Senate resulting from resignation, the executive authority of the state (today known in every state as the governor) can fill the vacancy by appointment unless the state legislature has provided for some other means of filling the vacancy, such as a special election. Whenever a senator needs to be appointed or elected, the Secretary of the Senate mails one of three forms to the state's governor to inform them of the proper wording to certify the appointment of a new Senator.