What Is The 25th Amendment And Could It Remove Donald Trump From Office?

On Wednesday January 6, supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building – the legislative branch of the US government, where congress convenes – and staged a riot in an act of domestic terrorism.

Since the November election, Trump has peddled false claims that the votes cast in the presidential election were fraudulent and the election was ‘stolen’ from him, repeatedly disputing that president-elect Joe Biden legitimately won the election (which he did) and refusing the tradition of conceding.

This conspiracy theory – which Trump is still promoting, two months on – has stoked Trump supporters, the far right and white supremacist groups. And when Congress was due to ceremonially certify Biden as the incoming president, these groups stormed the US congressional building in what former Republican president George W Bush has called an ‘insurrection’ – defined as ‘an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government’.

Photos from inside the Capitol showed the rioters bearing Confederate flags (flags dating back to the US civil war, supporting the confederation movement who were against ending the enslavement of Black people) and often used today to promote white supremacist and fascist ideals, wielding guns, holding up signs that support the Q-Anon conspiracy theories, allegedly stealing items from inside the building – including a letter to house speaker Nancy Pelosi – and even sitting in the speaker’s chair inside the senate. According to police, four people died following the attack.

The building was subsequently placed on lockdown, the mayor of Washington DC introduced a curfew and congresswomen and men were forced to hide in the building with seasoned journalists inside describing how ‘afraid’ they were.

Trump did little to quell the violence and riots, sharing a video message during which he told the rioters to ‘go home’ but also said ‘We love you, you’re special’ (the clip has since been disabled or taken down from the majority of social media platforms while Trump has also been blocked on Twitter and Facebook).

And because of his failure to condemn these groups (not for the first time – the 45th president has a track record of refusing to condemn white supremacist organisations) and his consistent peddling of conspiracy theories which undoubtedly encouraged yesterday’s riots, there have been calls for the 25th amendment of the American constitution to be invoked.

What is the 25th amendment to the US constitution?

Unlike the UK, the USA has a codified constitution, signed in 1787, famously starting with the phrase, ‘We the people’. Over time, there have been various amendments to the constitution. However, these amendments are rare – there has only been 27 and the last one about congressional compensation was ratified in 1992.

Some of the most well-known amendments include the second, often supported by factions of the Republican party and wholly supported by the NRA (National Rifle Association), which is the right to bear arms and the 13th amendment – the abolition of slavery in 1865 and the 19th, giving women the vote in 1919.

The 25th was signed into the constitution after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, declaring that the Vice President assumes power in the instance of the death of the president as well as three other sections including:

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.

Following Trump’s recent actions regarding the Capitol seige and the resulting violence which occurred, among the many horrified spectators watching the events in the Capitol unfold and those some familiar with the amendments began calling for the 25th. Many of them stated the activities that took place on January 6 in DC are evidence that the President is ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’.

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But is the call for the 25th amendment to be used solely being discussed and campaigned for on social media and in some articles? Well, apparently not. According to reports, the discussions have actually taken place in the US government.

The riots occurred on January 6 because it was the day that Congress was due to legally ratify the results of the US election and declare Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the next leaders of the US. Trump had told supporters at a rally held in DC (the president has continued to hold campaign-style rallies throughout his four-year presidency) that he had called upon his Vice President Mike Pence to stop the congressional proceedings and support Trump’s baseless assertion that he would remain president for a second term. Pence did not do this and effectively broke his allegiance to Trump.

From this display of actions, some are hoping that Pence will invoke the 25th amendment. CNN reported that four Republican elected officials told them they are calling for the amendment to be invoked while ‘some Cabinet members are holding preliminary discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment’.

However, given that the inauguration of Biden and Harris are set to take place in a few weeks on January 20 perhaps this option is unrealistic as it would require votes by congress.

What about impeaching Donald Trump?

While some Republicans are calling for the 25th amendment, others including high profile Democrats like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez are calling for impeachment, reports CNN.

Impeachment is also in the constitution and is the process in which the ‘President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States’ can be removed from office if convicted in an impeachment trial of ‘Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors’. Bill Clinton famously underwent an impeachment trial over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky which did not successfully pass. Trump has already undergone impeachment proceedings too, over abusing his power by allegedly pressuring Ukraine to dig up information on Biden and his son Hunter Biden, reports the BBC. The motion did not pass due to the Republican party supporting him through the proceedings.

If a president is successfully impeached, it means they can never hold a federal office again which is why some are encouraging this way forward instead.

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Which some on Twitter have claimed has come about due to the threat of the 25th amendment or impeachment…

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