Donald Trump Can Be Removed Without Being Impeached [Opinion]
Donald Trump’s impeachment odds are not looking good for those who voted for the Republican candidate. Almost a million people have already signed a petition asking the Congress to dig into his activities since he entered the White House. However, impeachment of a president is not an easy task, and at the same time, it creates second thoughts in the minds of all those who have voted for the sitting president.
Earlier this week, the Nation reported that Mark Pocan, a Democratic Congressmen, has reached out to the members of the Congress to talk about the possibility of Donald Trump’s impeachment. Pocan stated that if the sitting president fails to address conflicts of interest, there are other actions that can be taken, including the possibility of him getting impeached.
“Mr. President, it’s time for you to fix this. One, divest your business holding immediately to remove any suggestion of conflicts in your decision making. Two, show us your tax returns so financial interests are transparent to the American people. And three, get rid of your unconstitutional executive order, which will make us less safe and only serve to embolden our enemies,” Pocan said.
At the same time, Maxine Moore-Waters, the U.S. Representative for California’s 43rd congressional district, also stated that this is the right time to talk about Donald Trump’s impeachment.
During her recent interview, Waters suggested that if they want to remove Donald Trump, then they all have to dig deeper to find the right thread.
“I do believe that there is a connection between the Ukraine and Donald Trump and of course Russia. I think that he colluded with Putin during the election and that hacking and everything that took place. I think that it’s there, we just have to dig deeper, do the investigation and find it.”
That being said, there is a way that might take away Donald Trump’s presidency without impeaching him.
After John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, American Congress added an amendment to the Constitution that mandates how the vice president’s office would be replaced in the event he or she becomes the president of the United States. However, if one looks deeper into the amendment, one can find that it also stipulates how a president could be stripped of power by Congress and the vice president if he or she shows their inability to lead the country.
According to Popsugar, Section 4 of the 25th Amendment essentially allows a vice president and a majority of the administration’s officials to decide whether the sitting president is good enough for the job.
The exact language of Section 4 reads as follows.
“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice-President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”
If Mike Pence or a majority of Congress thinks that Donald Trump is not suitable to lead the country, can Donald Trump be removed? Apparently, Pence has been very close to Mr. Trump, so the chances of him going in a different direction are pretty slim.
Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Article 4. We’re all going to be talking a lot more about it in the months ahead.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 16, 2016
That being said, it is way too soon to talk about removing Donald Trump from the Oval Office. There are many who are not pleased with his policies or recent actions, but if the president will do what he has previously promised, then there are chances that he can bring peace and unity in America.
[Featured Image by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images]
