Skip to main content

‘Unfit to Serve’: Trump’s Mika Facelift Tweet Sparks Calls to Invoke 25th Amendment

Rachel StockmanJun 29th, 2017, 10:40 am
 

Immediately after President Donald Trump posted what appears to be a totally unhinged tweet calling out television host Mika Brzezinski for an alleged facelift, calls have already begun for his immediate removal using the 25th Amendment. The Constitutional provision, which has never been used, can be invoked when a president has been found to be “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

Keith Olbermann tweeted out that his “irresponsible” speech is destroying the country, and that the 25th amendment should be invoked.


As we previously reported, the process for removing an incapacitated president involuntarily has never been tested and it would likely be incredibly difficult. But here’s what would happen if Section 4 of the 25th Amendment was invoked, in part:

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that 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.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

In order for the vice president (Pence) to continue as the “Acting President,” the Senate and the House would have to determine by a 2/3 vote that President Trump is unable to “discharge the duties of his office.”

Could it happen? Most legal experts think it would be nearly impossible, especially given the current make-up of Congress.

LawNewz.com columnist Robert Barnes contends:

As lawyers, the question of incapacity is dealt with all the time in the law, especially in cases of the infirm or elderly, rape cases or statutes of limitations, criminal culpability or civil liability. Due equally to the respect for the individual and regard for democracy, we do not allow the state, or anyone else, to uniformly call some incapacitated without clear, constricting standards. This requires the literal inability to function — coma status, or its equivalent, generally. A mental illness so severe it deprives a person from being able to feed themselves, house themselves, etc. There must be a complete inability to provide for the most basic needs of themselves. The criminal law provides further detailed definitions, such as when a defendant is competent to stand trial. To be incompetent or incapacitated, as any lawyer knows, compels a very high standard of proof of completely inability to function.

But, not everyone agrees. Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe told The New Yorker that the standard for removal is not “a medical or otherwise technical one but is one resting on a commonsense understanding of what it means for a President to be ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’—an inability that can obviously be manifested by gross and pathological inattention or indifference to, or failure to understand, the limits of those powers or the mandatory nature of those duties.”

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

Filed Under:

Follow Law&Crime:

Rachel Stockman - President / On Air Host

Rachel Stockman is President of Law&Crime which includes Law&Crime Productions, Law&Crime Network and LawAndCrime.com. Under her watch, the company has grown from just a handful of people to a robust production company and network producing dozens of true crime shows a year in partnership with major networks. She also currently serves as Executive Producer of Court Cam, a hit show on A&E, and I Survived a Crime, a new crime show premiering on A&E this fall. She also oversees production of a new daily syndicated show Law&Crime Daily, which is produced in conjunction with Litton Entertainment. In addition to these shows, her network and production company produce programs for Facebook Watch, Cineflix and others. She has spent years covering courts and legal issues, and was named Atlanta Press Club's 'Rising Star' in 2014. Rachel graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and Yale Law School.

You may also like: