Civics Test Questions 31–40 with Answers & Explanations2008 · for earlier filers

Quick answer: questions 31-40 of the civics bank cover System of Government. The correct answer is marked under each question with the reasoning behind it — and the source for every fact. Watch items rated hard in this set: 2 of 10 trip test takers most.

Questions 31-40

Question 31: If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

• A. the Secretary of State
• B. the president pro tempore of the Senate
• C. the Speaker of the House ✓
• D. the Chief Justice

Answer: C — the Speaker of the House. Under the Presidential Succession Act the line runs: Vice President, then Speaker of the House, then the Senate's president pro tempore, then Cabinet secretaries starting with the Secretary of State. The Chief Justice never appears in the succession line — the courts stay out of the executive succession entirely. Official, adapted

Question 32: Who is the Commander in Chief of the military?

• A. the Secretary of Defense
• B. Congress
• C. the highest-ranking four-star general
• D. the President ✓

Answer: D — the President. The President is Commander in Chief of the armed forces — civilian control of the military, by design. Congress has the separate power to declare war, but commanding the troops is the President's alone; the Secretary of Defense runs the Pentagon under the President. Official, adapted

Question 33: Who signs bills to become laws?

• A. the Senate Majority Leader
• B. the President ✓
• C. the Chief Justice
• D. the Speaker of the House

Answer: B — the President. A bill passed by both chambers goes to the President, who signs it into law — or vetoes it. The Speaker and the Senate leader steer bills through Congress, but only the President signs. If a veto is overridden by two-thirds of both chambers, the bill becomes law without a signature. Official, adapted

Question 34: Who vetoes bills?

• A. the Senate alone
• B. the Supreme Court
• C. the Attorney General
• D. the President ✓

Answer: D — the President. The veto belongs to the President: it returns the bill to Congress, which can only override it with a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. The Supreme Court can later strike a law down in court, but it never vetoes one in advance. Official, adapted

Question 35: What does the President’s Cabinet do?

• A. advises the President ✓
• B. makes federal laws
• C. commands the armed forces
• D. interprets the Constitution

Answer: A — advises the President. The Cabinet advises the President. It consists of the Vice President and the heads of the fifteen executive departments — Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, and so on. Making laws is Congress's job; interpreting the Constitution belongs to the courts; commanding the armed forces is the President's own constitutional role, not the Cabinet's. Official, adapted

Question 36: What are two Cabinet-level positions?

• A. Speaker of the House and Chief Justice
• B. Governor of California and Mayor of New York
• C. Senate Majority Leader and president pro tempore
• D. Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense ✓

Answer: D — Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. Any two names from the official Cabinet list answer this: Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, Veterans Affairs — plus the Attorney General and the Vice President. The Speaker and the Chief Justice sit in other branches; governors and mayors are state and city officials — all of them deliberate traps. Official, adapted

Question 37: What does the judicial branch do?

• A. reviews laws ✓
• B. commands the National Guard
• C. writes new federal laws
• D. enforces immigration rules

Answer: A — reviews laws. The judicial branch reviews and explains laws, resolves disputes, and decides whether a law goes against the Constitution. Writing laws is Congress's work; enforcing them is the executive's. "Reviews laws" — along with the other official phrasings — is a full answer. Official, adapted

Question 38: What is the highest court in the United States?

• A. the District Court
• B. the Federal Claims Court
• C. the Court of Appeals
• D. the Supreme Court ✓

Answer: D — the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land: its decisions on federal questions are final. Federal courts run district courts → courts of appeals → the Supreme Court, which sits at the top with nine justices appointed for life. Official, adapted

Question 39: How many justices are on the Supreme Court?

• A. seven (7)
• B. twelve (12)
• C. nine (9) ✓
• D. fifteen (15)

Answer: C — nine (9). The Court has had nine justices — one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices — since 1869. USCIS words this as a current-number question and points to uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates; that official list still gives nine as of our last check (November 2026). Seven was the count before the Civil War era — the classic historical trap. Official, adapted

Question 40: Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?

• A. Clarence Thomas
• B. Samuel Alito
• C. Sonia Sotomayor
• D. John Roberts ✓

Answer: D — John Roberts. As of our last check (November 2026), the Chief Justice is John Roberts, in that seat since 2005. Clarence Thomas — the deliberate trap here — is the longest-serving current justice but an Associate, not the Chief. Current-officials question: verify at uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates. Official, adapted

Answer key at a glance

Answer from memory first, then check the key — the fastest way to find which explanations you actually need to read in full.

Study notes for this set

If this set felt rough, drill the weak section directly: System of Government. When the explanations all read as "obviously", you are ready for the next block — questions 41 onward — everything is indexed in the Civics Test question bank.