Joel Ebert

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Despite an attorney calling it "constitutionally suspect," a bill to take away the governor’s ability to select a replacement for a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee advanced in a House committee on Tuesday.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson, would require a joint special session to be held within two weeks of the vacancy occurring. In the event that lawmakers are not in legislative session when the vacancy occurs, the governor would be required to call a special session, specifically for the purpose of filling the empty seat.

To fill the vacancy, a candidate, who would have to be a member of the same party as their predecessor, would be required to receive a majority of votes among the General Assembly.

Although Matthew Mundy, a legislative attorney, said questions of the bill's constitutionality exist, Rep. Jimmy Eldridge, R-Jackson, said he thought the legislature has passed a lot of constitutionally suspect bills since he’s been a lawmaker.

“So I say let’s move forward,” Eldridge said.

Today, 36 states, including Tennessee, allow the governor to appoint a replacement to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat until the next regularly scheduled general election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Fourteen states require a special election rather than a temporary appointment in the event of a vacancy.

When the bill was brought up in the House Local Government Committee, Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, initially tried to amend the measure to require a two-thirds vote instead of a majority.

Mundy said a state Supreme Court nominee appointed by the governor must receive a majority vote from both chambers to be confirmed.

Daniel Diorio, a senior policy specialist with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said he is not aware of any other states that would allow the legislature to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat.

"The reason being of the clear language of the 17th Amendment," Diorio said.

The 17th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, "When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of each State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct."

Before the 17th Amendment, all U.S. senators were selected by the legislature.

The House Local Government Committee ended up approving the bill with a 9-3 vote, sending it to the chamber’s finance committee, which is the final step before it can be voted on in the House.

The Senate version of the legislation is set to be taken up in committee on Wednesday.

Littleton sponsored another bill last year that would have required a vacancy in the state's U.S. Senate seat to be filled with a special election. The legislation, which was estimated to cost in excess of $9 million per special election, failed to make it to the House and Senate floor.

Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.