How to Use pro tempore in a Sentence

pro tempore

adverb
  • Drewenski is mayor pro tempore until an acting mayor is elected.
    — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
  • During her time on the council, Budge has served as mayor five times, vice mayor five times — including this year — and mayor pro tempore once.
    — Camryn Dadey, Sacbee.com, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Drewenski has been mayor pro tempore since Clark’s death, as the senior member of the City Council.
    — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Senate president pro tempore 4.
    — Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Drewenski is serving as mayor pro tempore, and will continue in that position until an acting mayor is selected.
    — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2026
  • That’s opened the door to questions about which senator will succeed him as president pro tempore, which is the most powerful position in the Senate, held by the controlling party.
    — Charlotte Observer, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Grassley is the current Senate president pro tempore, or president pro tem, which places him third in line for the presidency after Vance and Johnson.
    — Joseph Konig, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The position of president pro tempore goes to the majority-party senator with the longest continuous service.
    — Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The mayor appoints four commissioners, the City Council president appoints two, and the Council president pro tempore appoints two more.
    — Teresa Liu, Daily News, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Lucas, 82, who has served as a state senator since 1992, is the senate’s president pro tempore and among the state’s most prominent and outspoken Democrats.
    — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 6 May 2026
  • If the gunman had been successful, Chuck Grassley, the ninety-two-year-old president pro tempore of the Senate, who skipped the dinner, would have been sworn in as President.
    — Diego Lasarte, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
  • McGuire had most recently served as the California Senate president pro tempore and earned around 40% of the primary vote as of late Tuesday.
    — Haley Parsley june 10, Sacbee.com, 10 June 2026
  • Local Government Code does not specifically outline the need for this position in a county, but Tarrant County is not the first to select a county judge pro tempore.
    — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2025
  • In his time in the General Assembly, Dobis rose to speaker pro tempore, the second-highest position in the House, in 2010.
    — Michelle L. Quinn, Chicago Tribune, 4 May 2026
  • Hardman, the first Black woman elected to the West Des Moines City Council, is currently the West Des Moines mayor pro tempore.
    — Jonathan Carter, The Hill, 30 Dec. 2025
  • The governor, speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore each appoint two members of the commission, while the chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court appoints one.
    — Arkansas Online, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Similarly to how a city has a dedicated mayor pro tempore run council meetings when the mayor is not present, the commissioners court presiding officer will be in charge of conducting court meetings if O’Hare is absent.
    — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Kaylor, who is also Blue Springs’ current mayor pro tempore, was first elected in April 2017 and re-elected in 2020 and 2023.
    — Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 31 Mar. 2026
  • She was later followed by Toni Atkins, who went on to become the first LGBTQ+ woman to serve as Assembly speaker and Senate president pro tempore.
    — Chris Ward, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2025
  • As leaders of their respective chambers, the speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore will have their pay increased by 1% from $51,675 to $52,191.
    — Arkansas Online, 14 Nov. 2025
  • Joseph was first elected to the Florida House in 2018 and served as Minority Leader pro tempore from 2022 to 2024.
    — Miami Herald, 11 June 2026
  • Lucas, 82, was first elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1991, and is currently the Senate president pro tempore.
    — Jacob Rosen, CBS News, 6 May 2026
  • Nugent, using her power as president pro tempore to vote on any City Council panel, cast meaningful votes during critical Finance Committee budget deliberations.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Another $5 million was secured by former president pro tempore of the California State Senate, Toni Atkins, according to the city of Chula Vista.
    — Center Square, The Washington Examiner, 12 Dec. 2025
  • In today's system, the president's immediate successor is the vice president, followed by the House speaker, Senate president pro tempore, then each Cabinet secretary in the order that their departments were established.
    — Brooke Migdon, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Grassley, who as Senate president pro tempore is third in line behind Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana for the presidency, had undergone surgery to remove gallstones a week before the event.
    — Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Russell, who served in the Senate from 1933 until his death in 1971, rising to Senate dean and president pro tempore, opposed integration and the Civil Rights Movement.
    — Max Rego, The Hill, 21 Nov. 2025
  • If all three of them were to become incapacitated, the next in line for president would be 92-year-old longtime Iowa GOP Senator Chuck Grassley, the president pro tempore of the Senate.
    — Christopher Cann, USA Today, 27 Apr. 2026
  • According to the City Clerk’s office, the appointing authority responsible for filling the vacancy would be the office of Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who is the Council president pro tempore.
    — Teresa Liu, Daily News, 23 Jan. 2026
  • The 35-member Senate will elect its president pro tempore-designate at the end of the 2026 fiscal session that begins in April, after the Senate Republican Caucus selects its nominee for the post.
    — Arkansas Online, 21 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pro tempore.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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