The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution addresses the President’s authority in the event of death or impeachment and was ratified in 1967 after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
What Does the 25th Amendment Say?
It is divided into four sections, each dealing with the departure of the President during his elected term.
The first section states that if the president dies or resigns — or is deposed — the vice president takes over the Oval Office, something the original constitution did not clearly state.
Presidents can, of course, be removed by impeachment, a feature of the Constitution from the start. They can also be removed by the 25th Amendment.
Section II states that both the House and Senate must confirm a new vice president if the vice president dies or resigns — or is fired. Up until 1967, presidents could change vice presidents themselves during the term of office if they got the vice president to agree to step down—which didn’t actually happen, but was possible in principle.
Section III clarifies that a President may temporarily delegate his or her powers to the Vice President and later recall them when he or she is fit to serve. This is most commonly asserted when a President is under the influence of surgical anesthesia for a short period of time.
Section IV is the most controversial part of the amendment: it describes how the President can be removed from office if he or she is unable to work and does not leave on his or her own accord.
The Vice President and “a majority of the senior officials of executive departments or any other body such as Congress are required by law to write to both the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives saying that “the President is incapable of exercising the powers and to perform the duties of his office.’
The term “principal officers of executive departments” would normally mean the cabinet secretaries.
So at least eight of the 15 most senior members of the president’s cabinet, along with the vice president, must agree that a president should be removed before any plan can go ahead.
Notifying the Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore is the act that immediately elevates the Vice President to the role of “acting President.”
The ousted president can challenge the claim, giving the leaders of the bloodless coup four days to re-assert their claims to the House and Senate.
Congress then has two days to convene – if it is not already in session – and another 21 days to vote on the president’s incapacitation. This requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Once a two-thirds majority vote is reached, the President loses powers and is removed, the Vice President steps down and is sworn in as President.
But if 21 days of debate and voting end without a two-thirds majority, the president gets his power back.
What could happen to trigger the 25th Amendment?
The vice president and eight of the 15 “main” cabinet members would have to agree to inform Congress that the president is unable to rule the country.
This group consists of the Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Veterans Affairs Secretary, and Secretary of Homeland Security.
Their formal notification would go to the Speaker of the House and in the Senate to the President Pro Tempore, the senior Senator. Once the letter is mailed, the Vice President becomes the “President-in-Office”.
Alternatively, Congress could set up its own mechanism to decide whether the president is fit for the post — perhaps a commission or joint committee. The Vice President would still have to agree to his conclusion and then formally write to the Speaker and President Pro Tempore.
Or another possibility is that the pool of “principal officials” is considered greater than 15 and a majority of that group declares the president incompetent.
What if the President disagrees?
If the President claims that he or she is fit to hold office, he or she would write to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate within four days, starting a three-week intense debate in both houses of the Senate start the congress.
The president would be impeached if two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate approved the vice president and his cabal.
If either house failed to reach that mark, the president would retain his powers and likely begin an extensive housecleaning, firing the vice president and replacing disloyal cabinet members.
Are there loopholes?
The 25th Amendment allows Congress to appoint its own panel to evaluate the president, rather than relying on the Cabinet — the men and women who work most closely with the president — to decide on a course of action.
It clarifies that “another body, as Congress may lawfully provide” could fill that role, but the vice president would still have to approve any determination that the president is unable to discharge his duties.
This commission could hypothetically include anyone from a presidential historian to a psychiatrist charged with assessing the president’s suitability for office.
Another loophole is that it does not require cabinet approval, but requires the departments’ “principal officials”. This term is not defined in the Constitution. In some departments, legislation appears to designate not only the secretary but also deputy secretaries and even under-secretaries of state as “principal officials,” so many more people could be brought in to assess the president’s suitability.
But the president’s cabinet has a number of “acting” cabinet officials – and it’s unclear whether they could therefore participate in the president’s removal.
Could the president fire the vice president if he or she rebels?
No. The vice president can resign or be impeached and removed — but he or she does not serve at the president’s discretion.
Is there a precedent for this?
No. Only Section III, the voluntary transfer of presidential powers, has ever been used – and only very briefly.
In December 1978, President Jimmy Carter considered invoking Section III while contemplating surgery to remove hemorrhoids.
Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both voluntarily gave up their powers while undergoing procedures under anesthesia.
Section IV was also never invoked, although there were claims that Ronald Reagan’s chief of staff, Donald Regan, told his successor, Howard Baker, in 1987 that he should be prepared to invoke it because Reagan was inattentive and incompetent.
The PBS documentary American Experience tells how Baker and his team watched Reagan closely for signs of incompetence when they first met and concluded he was in complete control.