Should Congress Invoke the 25th Amendment on Trump?

What’s the story?

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has suggested legislators invoke the 25th Amendment against President Donald Trump if White House officials don’t believe he’s fit to execute the duties of his office.

"Every one of these officials have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It's time for them to do their job."

• Warren’s comments come in response to statements made in an anonymous New York Times Op-Ed, where a senior White House official wrote he and others are working to frustrate the president’s “misguided impulses,” and at one point considered attempting to remove Trump from office:

“Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis.”

• There’s currently a bill in Congress calling for the creation of an 11 member commission to examine the president’s physical and mental capacity to carry out the duties of the office.

What’s the 25th Amendment?

• If Trump was diagnosed as mentally unfit to be president, it could be grounds to enact the 25th Amendment, which states that if 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."
• Applying the 25th Amendment to Trump’s mental health would be unprecedented. Normally, the 25th Amendment is enacted when a president is incapacitated due to an injury or undergoing surgery, and the vice president temporarily becomes the acting president.

What is Trump’s team saying?

• White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement noting that no Americans had voted for a “gutless, anonymous source” to the New York Times. Sanders said the writer was “putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people,” and called for the “coward” to “do the right thing and resign.”
• Similarly, a Washington Post analysis wondered about the democratic crisis the Op-Ed described, specifically referencing the allegation that senior Trump officials had considered and dismissed the possibility of 25th Amendment proceedings to remove the president from office:

“If they were truly that worried, you'd have to think they would be so alarmed that they'd come out publicly about what's happening. Instead, they seem to want to protect themselves and hope everything turns out okay. They think it best to muddle through with a democratic crisis that could turn into an American crisis, while shunning the constitutional option that was put in place, it seems, for just such a circumstance.”

The Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act

• President Trump’s late night tweets, war of words with the media, and unpredictable behavior have caused some medical professionals and lawmakers to question whether he has the fitness to serve as commander-in-chief. Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) introduced legislation to examine the president’s physical and mental fitness.
• According to Raskin’s proposed bill, bipartisan congressional leaders would select four physicians, four psychiatrists, and three political figures (such as former presidents, vice presidents, and Cabinet officials) who would be responsible for examining the president and making a determination about his or her capacity.
• If it is found that the president cannot carry out their duties, the vice president would be able to sign off on the commission’s findings and invoke the 25th Amendment to step into the president’s role.

What do you think?

Should legislators consider invoking the 25th Amendment on Trump? How do you want your reps voting on The Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act? Hit Take Action and let them know, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo credit: Gage Skidmore / Creative Commons)