In a Wednesday piece for New York Magazine’s Intelligencer , law professor and columnist Paul Campos argued that Vice President Mike Pence could use the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office.
Campos pointed in particular to Section Four of the modification, which allows the vice president to work with a majority of the cabinet to begin a motion to remove a commander-in-chief deemed to be too unstable for their position.
“If the vice-president and the majority of the Cabinet decide that, for whatever reason, the president has become unfit to carry out the powers and duties of the office and they transmit a letter to Congress to that effect, then the vice-president becomes the acting president and remains so unless and until Congress refuses to allow that transfer of power to stand.”
According to Campos, members of Trump’s administration considered invoking the 25th Amendment in the early days of his presidency. However, they were allegedly stifled by the requirement of support from two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Now, he noted, this mechanic is set to be removed.
The University of Colorado Boulder faculty member claimed that Pence could become acting president as soon as Sunday if he decided to take advantage of the unique constitutional power. After gaining the support with the simple majority of one chamber of Congress and submitting a letter that would make him temporary head of state, Trump could contest Pence’s actions. If the commander-in-chief chose to do so, it would fall on the Democrat-controlled lower chamber to vote on whether the decline to act on the dispute for the remaining 21 days until the end of Trump’s term.
“This, in effect, means that Pence could become acting president on Sunday, December 27, and would remain in the position for the rest of the current administration’s term in office, as long as House Democrats acceded to the new status quo,” the author wrote.
The law professor also noted that legal scholars believe that the framers of the U.S. Constitution drafted Section Four using open-ended language to ensure that it could be implemented in a wide range of situations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently worked with Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin on legislation for a commission centered around the 25th Amendment. The bill would determine whether the head of state is fit for their duties and was allegedly driven by Trump’s erratic behavior following his coronavirus diagnosis. However, Pelosi claimed the law was not explicitly targeted at the commander-in-chief.
According to Trump, Pelosi’s legislation was allegedly part of a plan to remove President-elect Joe Biden from power and replace him with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
