The 25th Amendment: The Difficult Process to Remove a President

The unnamed author of an article in the New York Times wrote this week that there were "rumors" among President Trump's advisers about trying to remove Trump from the presidency by invoking 4 of the 25th Amendment, which provides for a process to declare that the President is unfit to perform his duties.

Such a move would be unprecedented and the writer wrote that the discussions did not progress because "no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis".

The amendment adopted by the states 51 years ago is a complex and difficult process for the removal of a current president. Here is a brief history of the 25th amendment and an explanation of how it works.

What is the 25th amendment?

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution is mainly designed to clarify the presidential order of succession.

The first part of the amendment explains what should happen if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office: the vice president becomes president immediately.

The second part clearly states that when there is "a vacancy in the position of Vice President", the President appoints a replacement, who will take office as soon as it has been confirmed by the majority of the two chambers. Congress.

The third section allows the president to temporarily delegate his / her responsibilities to the vice president, who then acts as interim president until the president informs the congressional leaders that he / she is able to resume his / her duties.

The fourth section proposes a multi-step process for the Vice President and the majority of executives who run the executive agencies – generally considered the Cabinet – to declare that the President "is unable to fulfill the powers and duties of his office". finally requires a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress.

How did the 25th Amendment come?

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, there was some confusion about how to choose a new vice president after Lyndon B. Johnson became president. And there were worries about what could happen if Johnson got sick or was unable to replace him. Congress formally proposed the 25th Amendment in the summer of 1965 and the amendment became part of the Constitution in February 1967, after 38 states ratified it. (Nine other states have subsequently ratified it – three – Georgia, North Dakota and South Carolina – have never ratified it.)

Has it ever been used?

Since its adoption in 1967, the first three sections of the 25th Amendment have been used several times.

The first and second sections were used in 1974, when Richard M. Nixon resigned from the presidency and was replaced by Gerald Ford, his vice-president. Ford then appointed Nelson Rockefeller as vice-president and Rockefeller was confirmed by the House and Senate.

Section 3, which allows presidents to temporarily transfer their powers and duties to the vice president, was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985 when he underwent a brief surgery against cancer. President George W. Bush also invoked the 25th Amendment in 2002 when he underwent a brief medical procedure and transferred his duties to Vice President Dick Cheney for a few hours. Mr. Bush did the same thing in 2007.

The fourth section of the 25th amendment – that considered by the anonymous author of the essay in the Times – has never been used.

How would it work if we invoked it now?

The first step would be for Vice President Mike Pence and a cabinet majority to provide a written statement to the Acting Speaker of the Senate (currently Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah) and the Speaker of the House (currently representing Paul D). Ryan of Wisconsin) that Mr. Trump "is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office". That would immediately destroy Mr. Trump's office and make Mr. Pence acting president.

But the 25th amendment would allow Mr. Trump to immediately send a written statement to Mr. Hatch and Mr. Ryan, stating that he is able to perform his duties. This would immediately allow him to resume his duties unless Mr. Pence and the cabinet send a new statement to the leaders of Congress within four days to reaffirm their concerns. Mr Pence would take over as Acting President.

This declaration would require Congress to meet within 48 hours and vote within 21 days. If two-thirds of the House and Senate agreed that Mr. Trump was unable to continue as president, he would be permanently removed from office and Mr. Pence would become president. If the vote in Congress was insufficient, Mr. Trump would resume his duties.

Would it ever happen?

The sponsors of the twenty-fifth amendment wanted it to be a difficult process that would make it extremely rare. They succeeded.

To put it in context, it is even more difficult to remove a chair under the 25th amendment than the impeachment process. A Speaker may be indicted by a simple majority in the House and removed from office by a two-thirds vote in the Senate. Revocation under the 25th Amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both Houses.