Democrats are pushing to remove Donald Trump from officeĀ underĀ the 25thĀ Amendment afterĀ heĀ threatened that “an entireĀ civilizationĀ will die” if Iran didn’t back down,Ā a statement many have described as a potentialĀ war crime.Ā
The US president’s handling of theĀ Epstein files and, in the past week, social media posts andĀ statements lashing out againstĀ Pope LeoĀ XIVĀ haveĀ only intensifiedĀ theĀ discussion.
WhatĀ is the 25thĀ Amendment?Ā
The 25thĀ Amendment was added to the USĀ Constitution in 1967 to clarifyĀ proceduresĀ whenĀ a president or vice president is unable to continue in office due to death, resignationĀ or ill health.Ā
Though dealing with presidential incapacities had long been an issue,Ā the amendment’sĀ creationĀ was onlyĀ sped upĀ afterĀ the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963.
The amendment has four sections. The firstĀ allows aĀ vice presidentĀ to becomeĀ presidentĀ if the president resigns or dies.Ā Section twoĀ addressesĀ replacing aĀ vice president, and section three allows temporary and voluntaryĀ transfer ofĀ powersĀ if the presidentĀ isĀ brieflyĀ incapacitated.Ā This section has been previously been invoked,Ā most recently byĀ President George W.Ā BushĀ (in 2002 and 2007)Ā andĀ byĀ PresidentĀ Biden in 2021,Ā duringĀ colonoscopiesĀ underĀ anesthesia.
The fresh calls to remove Trump fall under section four of the amendment, which providesĀ for removalĀ fromĀ officeĀ if the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”
In this scenario, the viceĀ presidentĀ andĀ a majority ofĀ the principal officers of the executive departments,Ā or ofĀ another body created by Congress,Ā canĀ declare a presidentĀ unfit for service. The vice president then becomesĀ theĀ acting president.Ā This sectionĀ has never been invoked.
Who is calling for Trump’sĀ removalĀ from office?Ā
DemocratĀ CongressmanĀ Jamie RaskinĀ of Maryland has proposedĀ creating a commission toĀ remove Trump,Ā ifĀ theyĀ decideĀ he is no longer fit toĀ serve. Fifty other Democratic House lawmakers have co-sponsored the bill.
“We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress to fulfill its responsibilities under the 25th Amendment to protect the American people,”Ā Raskin wrote in a statement on April 14.
It’sĀ not just the Democrats, but also some on the political right who are calling for the removal of the president.Ā
Former Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, aĀ onetime fierce Trump supporter who resigned in January amid a public break with the president,Ā wrote in support of the 25thĀ Amendment on X on April 7Ā after Trump issued his civilization-ending threat to Iran.
“We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness,” she said.
Right-wingĀ podcaster Candace Owens, once a key figure in the MAGA movement, wrote on X that the “Congress and military need to intervene,” calling Trump a “genocidal lunatic.”
The public is also increasingly concerned about Trumpās capacity to govern. A Reuters/Ipsos pollĀ in late FebruaryĀ found thatĀ just 45% of Americans think Trump is “mentally sharp and able to deal with challenges.”
WhyĀ useĀ the 25thĀ Amendment andĀ not impeachment?Ā
Trump has already facedĀ callsĀ for impeachmentĀ in his second term.Ā However,Ā in the Republican-controlled House,Ā theyĀ haven’tĀ goneĀ far. Trump is the only president in US history to have been impeached twiceĀ āĀ both during his first term. Both times, he was acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
In an interview with Time magazine on April 10,Ā Raskin said lawmakers do not have “the means to engage in the impeachment process.” […]Ā There is not a single Republican who has called for impeachment orĀ indicatedĀ to us interest in impeachment at this point.”
Currently, Democrats are in the minority in both the House and the Senate, though with US midterm elections in November that could soon change.
“AĀ good deal of 25thĀ Amendment talk is straight-out political,” Mark Graber, a law professor at theĀ University ofĀ Maryland, told DW. “It’sĀ designed toĀ identifyĀ the Republican Party with Donald Trump in a way that will make it not easy for them to back off.”
WillĀ theĀ 25thĀ AmendmentĀ beĀ invoked?Ā
Even if the amendment is invoked, TrumpĀ couldĀ assert that no inability existsĀ byĀ submitting “a written declaration to the contrary.”Ā In this scenario, if the vice president and cabinet assert theirĀ position, Congress would vote on the matter, with two-thirds needed to remove the president.
While technically the amendment could be invoked, politically it is a long way off.
“Trump’s Cabinet and Congress seem satisfied with what Trump isĀ doing,”Ā said Graber. Former high-ranking officials who spoke withĀ DW’s Washington Bureau ChiefĀ Ines PohlĀ also expressed their doubts.
“Well, IĀ don’tĀ thinkĀ it’sĀ going to be invoked, whether it should or not,” said JohnĀ Bolton, one of Trump’s former national security advisers during his first term in office. “I’mĀ a lawyer, not a shrink, so IĀ can’tĀ really speak to that. But his problem is not necessarily mental āĀ it’sĀ that heĀ doesn’tĀ understand or care much about the wider world. He focuses on what benefits Donald Trump, and that shapes everything ā from Iran to how he treats NATO and US allies.”
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben HodgesĀ spoke similarly.Ā “Frankly, IĀ don’tĀ think there are enough Republicans in Congress to have the courage to do thisĀ for a variety of reasons,” he told DW.Ā “SoĀ it certainly seems unlikely, butĀ it’sĀ not good forĀ America thatĀ we’reĀ in a situation where many peopleĀ think thatĀ that’sĀ a necessary solution.”
Graber also thinks the 25th Amendment is unlikely to be invoked. “Until Republicans stop rallying around Donald Trump, impeachment, the 25th Amendment are simply theories,” he said.
Edited by: M. Sass, M. Kuebler