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University of Idaho law professor explains 25th Amendment process

The 25th Amendment includes a section to remove the President from office if the Vice President and Presidential Cabinet deem them unfit for office.

BOISE, Idaho — With continued calls from congressional leaders that President Trump should be removed from office, focus is now on a specific section of the 25th Amendment.

"Section four, which provides for the involuntary temporary or permanent removal of the President," said University of Idaho Professor of Law Shaakirrah Sanders.

Professor Sanders is an expert on constitutional law and said the 25th Amendment covers several scenarios, but specifically section four is what's in play right now.

"It looks at the involuntary option for when it appears the President is unable to perform the duties of their office," Sanders said.

That section has never been used before. So, how does section four work?

"What section four lays out is that our Vice President and the principal officers of the executive branch, a term that is undefined the 25th Amendment doesn't quite say who are those executive officers, but along with the Vice President these individuals can submit written declarations to both the Speaker of the House who is Nancy Pelosi and the President of the Senate who right now is Mitch McConnel," Sanders said.  

As Sanders points out, the principal officers of the executive branch are not defined, but in 1985, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel interpreted that as core Presidential Cabinet members, which there are 15 of. To process removal eight of those 15 people need to sign on with the Vice President's declarations. 

"Once those declarations are submitted, and they are accepted, then automatically our vice president becomes the acting president and that is a situation that could act temporarily or permanently," Sanders said. 

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But what if the President objects?

"The President can do their own declaration, submit it to the House and the Senate in the same way and therefore if the President objects what has to happen then is that two-thirds of the House and Senate must decide on the issue," Sanders said.  

Specifically in the case of President Trump though, a challenge to a hypothetical use of section four of the 25th Amendment would be moot. Congress has 21 days to hold a vote, a time frame that extends beyond the remainder of his term. So, Sanders believes that if Vice President Mike Pence decides to pursue that action, Trump can be removed without the body of congress being involved on a challenge from Trump because of the 21 day time frame to vote. 

"Given the experience of both McConnel and Nancy Pelosi in their positions if they want this to happen, I don't see anything that stops this from happening," Sanders said. 

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