As Democrats urge invoking the 25th Amendment, which governs the transfer of presidential powers, over President Donald Trump's response to a potential war with Iran, attention is focusing on the force of the measure.
According to The Hill, a U.S. political news outlet, on the 7th, momentum is growing within the Democratic Party to call for removing President Trump from office. On the day, 14-term Rep. John Larson introduced articles of impeachment and said in a statement, "President Trump has already exceeded the threshold for removal from office, and the situation is getting worse." In addition, 70 Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were said to have called for invoking the 25th Amendment.
They argue that as President Trump ratcheted up pressure on Iran, he delivered ultra-hardline remarks that signaled war crimes and even put U.S. security at risk. Earlier, ahead of a negotiation deadline he set, Trump had fired off a barrage at Iran day after day, saying, "One civilization will disappear tonight," and, "If you do not open the Strait of Hormuz, you will see hell."
Under the U.S. Constitution, impeachment by Congress is the representative means to remove a president, but the 25th Amendment sets out a separate process under which the president can be stripped of authority by the senior staff. If the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet judge the president unfit to perform the duties of the office, they can invoke the provision, and even if the president objects, Congress can make a final removal if, while the vice president and the Cabinet maintain their position, both the House and the Senate each secure a two-thirds majority in favor.
The provision was originally introduced to fill constitutional gaps related to presidential and vice presidential succession. In 1841, controversy erupted over the status of Vice President John Tyler after President William Harrison's death, and the need for adoption expanded further following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As confusion persisted over Kennedy's survival and his ability to perform his duties after he was shot, the need to refine the system grew prominent, and a law was ultimately enacted to set procedures for the vice president to serve as acting president in the event of a presidential incapacity.
That said, the 25th Amendment was also raised earlier this year. On Jan. 1, over President Trump's suggestion of an invasion of Greenland, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey and Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Yassamin Ansari and Eric Swalwell called for his removal and urged invoking the measure, and even within the Republican Party, there were reportedly critical voices saying, "If an invasion is decided, we will consider impeachment." However, the controversy subsided as Trump later negotiated to recognize U.S. sovereignty over U.S. military bases in Greenland instead of annexing Greenland.
The 25th was reportedly raised multiple times even during Trump's first term. For example, in 2018, former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was accused of trying to persuade Cabinet members to discuss invoking the provision, and around the same time, The New York Times (NYT) reported a senior official's remark that "there were early discussions within the Cabinet about invoking the 25th Amendment, but it was not carried out due to concerns about a constitutional crisis." Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is a figure who, while overseeing the "Russia scandal" investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election, repeatedly clashed with President Trump.
Right after the Jan. 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, the House passed a resolution urging former Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, but it was known to have amounted to a symbolic step without legal force. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later said in an inquiry that "it is true that invoking the 25th was mentioned within the Cabinet," but added, "we did not seriously consider actually invoking it."
In practice, the provision has never been used to remove a sitting president, and for that reason, it is seen as having limited applicability to removing President Trump. In the past, it was used twice in total in the process of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford appointing a vice president, and beyond that, it did not lead to substantive moves to invoke it.
Experts see the real-world barrier as very high because the 25th Amendment requires political determination by the vice president and the Cabinet, and further, bipartisan consent in Congress. In particular, the fact that Trump's second-term Cabinet is composed of figures who show high loyalty is also cited as a factor that lowers the likelihood of invocation.
In practice, most key officials—such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick—were said to have deep ties with President Trump himself and his family.