How a US President Is Removed from Office by the 25th Amendment

The 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1967, made some arrangements about the presidency and vice presidency. Most of the 25th Amendment addresses points like who replaces the US president if he dies while in office or resigns, how to fill a vacancy in the vice presidency, and how a president can temporarily transfer powers to the vice president in the event he cannot discharge his duties. One of the most talked about provisions of the 25th Amendment is the fourth section, which establishes how a US president can be removed from office if it is believed he is unfit to govern.

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which has never been used, deals with the tricky situation when the vice president and Cabinet decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Some believe this provision is potentially dangerous, as it could be used as a political weapon against a US president who is disliked by his vice president and a majority of his Cabinet.

The 25th Amendment stipulates that to remove a US president from office, the vice president and a majority of the president’s Cabinet or the vice president and a similar group designated by Congress must tell the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives that the president is unable to carry out his responsibilities to the nation.

On delivery of this notice, the vice president immediately becomes acting US president. Of course, the president can dispute this assessment and send a written message to the Senate and House leaders stating that he is able to do his job. Thus begins a political game of “he said, she said.”

One reason this section of the amendment is confusing is because it doesn’t clearly define the role of Congress in initiating the 25th Amendment. The actual text of the 25th Amendment states the vice president can initiate proceedings with “a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide.”

To date, Congress has not passed a law designating a body that would work with the vice president in starting 25th Amendment proceedings. The most recent attempt to clarify this portion of the amendment came in October 2020 when Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) introduced a bill that would establish a “Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office” to fill this duty. Raskin introduced similar legislation in 2017 as well during the presidency of Donald Trump.

If the vice president and the Cabinet or Congress members disagree with the US president about his capabilities, they have four days to inform the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker of the House that they want the president removed. At that point, the issue moves to the House and Senate. Lawmakers have 21 days to decide whether the president is capable of performing his duties.

It requires a two-thirds majority vote of both houses of Congress — 288 members of the House of Representatives and 67 members of the Senate — to permanently remove a president from office using the 25th Amendment. If two-thirds of lawmakers vote in favor of the vice president, the president is removed from office, and the vice president becomes the acting president. If fewer than two-thirds of representatives and senators agree with the vice president and Cabinet or congressional body, the president can resume his duties, presumably with a big focus on firing members of his Cabinet and asking for the vice president’s resignation.

The 25th Amendment of the US Constitution

(Ratified February 10, 1967)

Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Section 2.

Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Section 4. 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. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Check here to learn more about the 25th Amendment.