25th Amendment

Neither Impeachment Nor 25th Amendment Required

... If I perceived the depths of Trump’s extreme psychological vulnerability to their publication long ago, psyops expert Vladimir Putin certainly did long before that. Criminal enterprises can hack the IRS computers, so how hard would it be for Russian software engineers? Trump’s accountants would be an even easier target. If Putin has his taxes, he is unlikely to want to trigger Trump’s resignation—he is, after all, his boy—and thus will allow him some leeway to appear tough toward Russia. But, Putin will use the leverage his has to its maximum advantage without tripping Trump into impeachment or resignation. So-called President Trump is becoming increasingly at odds with Senators John Mc Cain (R-AZ) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC). They could be deciding votes as to whether to subpoena his tax records in conjunction with investigating Russian collusion with Trump. The so-called President has said both that he knows Putin well—to the point where Putin ...

The Fatal Flaw Of The 25th Amendment Opinion

... is no better time for Americans to acquaint (or reacquaint) themselves with the provisions of the 25 th Amendment, its history, application, and potential problems and to consider solutions. And it has inherent flaws that need to be addressed. The amendment's default decision-makers- the vice president and the cabinet - have a natural bias toward the existing officeholder that would make them reluctant to acknowledge the president's inability to serve. Additionally, in the case of a president who is suffering from mental illness and is emotionally unstable or irrational, there is no fail safe to prevent him or her from simply firing the entire cabinet to prevent the application of the amendment. The alternative process spelled out by the amendment leaves the decision to the vice president and a so-far-undefined body created by Congress. This body needs to be determined. I'm exploring legislation that would designate that "other body" to be composed of a majority of former ...

Increasing Talk Of Using 25th Amendment To Strip Trump Of Power

... of being shot, he could have remained alive although incapacitated to the extent he could not perform his duties. Unlike when a president dies, there would be no orderly succession and no functioning president. READ MORE: Check out Digital Journal's satirical take on the Trumpweek that was. Article 4 provides if the vice president and a majority of the cabinet (or such other persons as Congress may designate) believe the president can no longer carry out the duties of the office of president, they can declare so in writing. Once this written declaration is forwarded to Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate, the vice president assumes the duties of the presidency. Unlike impeachment, the president remains the president although without any powers and the vice president is given the title of "Acting president.' And unlike impeachment, there are no hearings in Congress. Once the ...

How Donald Trump Can Be Removed From Power Without Being Impeached

... is unlikely to be a threat for Mr Trump, because of the strong position in which he has put the Republican Party. Assistant professor Rebecca Thorpe, a political scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, previously told The Independent: "Given Trump’s numerous financial conflicts of interests, the potential for corruption and the likely violations of the Emoluments Clause , the legal possibility for impeachment is rife. "However, with a GOP-controlled House and Senate, the possibility of impeachment is not a question of law but of political will. "Trump is an unconventional Republican in many ways, but he has appointed a cabinet full [of] far-right conservatives with a conventional conservative agenda of tax cuts, reduced spending on health care and social services, and extensive deregulation. "Thus far, he has also received support from congressional Republicans who have blocked legislation to investigate or curb Trump’s massive financial conflicts of interests.". But Professor Angelia Wilson, from the University of Manchester, has said she believed the trail of scandals in his wake had become an “embarrassment” to the Republican party , leaving him ...

25th Amendment Could Be Alternative To Impeachment

... and FAQs. LETTER: 25 th Amendment could be alternative to impeachment. 7:12 a.m. ET Feb. 18, 2017. Section 4 of the 25 th Amendment deals with the contingency of a disabled president. (Photo: AP). 20 CONNECT TWEET LINKEDIN 6 COMMENTEMAILMORE. I was born in 1934 and have childhood memories of Adolph Hitler. Until recently, I never thought the United States would ever have a dictator. President Trump is out to circumvent our nation’s checks and balances. During his first 10 days, he issued executive orders at the rate of two a day. That is indicative of a dictator. Yes, every president in my lifetime has issued executive orders. The Constitution allows for executive orders, but it doesn’t mandate them. Trump also is trying to control the news media, another sign of a dictator. EDITORIAL: Will lies take their toll. There is an alternative way to oust Trump that is more feasible than impeachment. Yes, there are legal grounds for impeachment, especially his refusal to give up his businesses or turn them over to a blind trust. But the ...

America's Best Hope May Be Section 4

... down America’s first orange president got it exactly wrong. So wrong, in fact, that less than a week into his presidency, there’s a very special word that is already floating around in the national conversation. You can ask  Bernie Sanders. "That is a total nonsensical statement," he told reporters at a weekly press conference, adding that it is a "delusional statement.". Or check in with  any   number  of  columns. The dangers of the Trump delusions are clear. Nothing is beyond his ability to create illusion for all, and delusions for himself. It matters when the president of the United States lies about our democracy with claims that border on delusional. And maybe that’s what’s behind this nice little burst of constitutional scholarship. — Wassmann Foundation (@wassmannarts) January 25, 2017. As Donald Trump creates a phantom audience, illusory voters, and sinks into paranoia over “fake news,” there’s a big problem: who is going to put Trumpy in the corner. Donald Trump is either lying  or. One might argue that he is not lying because he is delusional — but if that is so, doesn’t that justify his immediate removal based on mental incapacitation as ...

Democrats Invoke 25th Amendment, Question Trump's Mental Health

... social workers who signed a petition to diagnose Trump from afar. They wrote that “the grave emotional instability indicated by Mr. Trump’s speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president.”. In response to that, Dr. Emrani told Breitbart News, “What I would love to do is have them declare what their political affiliations are to prove that this was politically motivated,” noting that the majority of people who serve in the mental health field are overwhelmingly liberal. “A number of people have wanted to interview me about Trump but I’ve declined,” Dr. Emrani said. “The reason I am accepting this interview [with Breitbart News] is because of the dangers to those who are truly mentally ill. You can say his policies are bad, but to make fun of a psychiatric illness is irresponsible and hurtful to those who truly suffer.”. Dr. Emrani said, “the media was swooning over Barack Obama and covered up every mistake he made. But with Trump, they blow everything up. Are you telling me half of America voted for a mentally ill man? And that a mentally ill man blew out a candidate who was groomed her entire life for the presidency? Is this how you ...

No, Trump Won’t Be Removed From Office With The 25th Amendment

... of possible justifications is long and will only grow over the course of his presidency. But everything wrong with Trump the president was also wrong with Trump the candidate. Mike Pence, the Cabinet Trump has nominated, and the Republican Party, which would need to overwhelmingly back Trump’s removal should he contest it, have all been willing to ignore Trump’s issues thus far. Or they’ve signed up for them. Nothing short of unambiguous, raving madness or unmistakable scandal (of a much higher order than the raving madness and scandal we’ve already seen) would move the party to admit they erred in bringing a dangerous, corrupt lunatic into the White House and trigger the political catastrophe that ditching Trump would ultimately result in. The 25 th Amendment provision relies on a governing party willing to shoot itself in the foot for the good of the country. Having faith in the ...

Will It Soon Be Donald Trump Vs. Mike Pence

... news conference. Trump has been in office four weeks. He won the election 3 1/2 months ago. Nevertheless, his still feels compelled to bring up his former opponent. "We had Hillary Clinton give Russia 20 percent of the uranium in our country," he said. "You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, and other things. Like, lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things. Nobody talks about that.". He's unintelligible and wrong, but his supporters hear: Hillary Clinton gave away uranium. (By the way, during her tenure at State, a sale of a Canadian company with mines in the United States was approved. The sale was to Russian oligarchs. Yes, it's bad to give Russians a strategic boost, Mr. President.). Again bringing up Clinton, Trump said at one point, "Hillary Clinton did a reset, remember? With the stupid plastic button that made us all look like a bunch ...

The 25th Amendment At 50 And What Happens If The President Can't Do His Job

... far avoiding a catastrophic situation in which a President was incapacitated but not dead. Following a run of other officials who had suggested the same, he called for a Constitutional amendment that would address the matter. " On at least two occasions in our history, and perhaps others, American presidents—James Garfield and Woodrow Wilson—have for prolonged periods been rendered incapable of discharging their Presidential duties," he wrote. "On sixteen occasions in our thirty-six Administrations, the Office of Vice President has been vacant—and over the two perilous decades since the end of the Second World War, that vital office has been vacant the equivalent of one year out of four." (He also noted that the Constitution did not provide for the possibility of subversion of the Electoral College as a possible problem with Presidential succession.). Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter. As TIME noted , the amendment came amidst a flurry of tweaks to ...

Happy 50th Birthday To The 25th Amendment To The Constitution

... have been invoked in a 1995 editorial in The New York Times. The only other time when anyone flirted with invoking Section 4 came in 1987, on the weekend when Howard H. Baker Jr. replaced Donald Regan as Reagan’s White House chief of staff. The matter was briefly addressed in a PBS “American Experience” documentary about Reagan. Howard Baker, chief of staff (archival): I will be on the job Monday. Full time. And, in the meantime, Jim Cannon and Tom Griscom will be my transition team. Narrator: What Baker’s transition team was told by Don Regan’s White House staff that weekend shocked them. Reagan was “inattentive,” “inept” and “lazy,” and Baker should be prepared to invoke the 25 th Amendment to relieve him of his duties. Edmund Morris, official biographer: The incoming Baker people all decided to have a meeting with him on the Monday morning, their first official meeting with the president, and to cluster around the table in the Cabinet Room and watch him very, very closely to see how he behaved, to see if he was indeed ...