(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Why The 25th Amendment Is Not A Viable Alternative To Impeachment [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2026-04-06 We have an increasingly erratic President. He never had any respect for the truth, and to the extent he believes the lies he tells that suggests he has no connection to reality. What’s more his erraticism is becoming an increasing threat to this nation and the world. It has led us into a major war of choice that threatens the global economy and world peace. Trump is on the verge of destroying NATO, an treaty that has preserved superpower peace for the better part of a century. On the home front Trump has unleashed brutal squads of masked anonymous police that terrorize American cities and murder American cities in cold blood on our streets. The response to these atrocities has been to lie andcover them up. However, Trump’s bizarre, filth ridden, Easter morning social media post threatening Iran with American war crimes seems to have been a major trigger in creating buzz to use the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. The Constitution allows impeachment for only treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors. There are viable routes to support such allegations. Considering bribery alone, Trump has created a cottage legal industry for securing pay to play pardons. Trump’s family and businesses are involved in both making foreign policy for Arab nations and cryptocurrency deals involving them worth billions. The 25th Amendment provides another path to remove a president for office that many are talking about now apparently believing that it is easier than impeachment. This article explains why it is not. The Kennedy assassination brought home the inadequacies of the Constitution in the modern era regarding Presidential succession. Originally Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution simply said that the Vice President shall become President “in Case of the removal of the President from Office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office.” So who has the power to decide the President is unable to discharge his duties? The 25th Amendment attempted to answer that question, setting forth a complex process that has never come close to being tested. Let’s take a look. “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.” So to even start this process Vice President JD Vance, as hop to it a Trump toady as exists, and the majority of the cabinet, has to agree and transmit to the Senate that President Trump is unable to discharge the duties of the Presidency. There’s a couple of obvious problems. Not only were these people handpicked by Trump, all of them (with the exception of the Vice President) serve at the pleasure of Trump. If he gets wind they are planning this, he can (in theory) simply fire them. They are all Trump loyalists, many of whom have already committed corrupt acts on his behalf. Any notion that they will take this first step, a prerequisite for the daunting further steps that would then follow, is (to be kind) fanciful. Most have already demonstrated that they are more loyal to Trump than to America. This clause, for the most part, assumed a President was just temporarily disabled by illness or injury. Note the Vice President does not actually become President, but just the “Acting President.” The temporariness is made clear as the 25th Amendment continues and states the President can reassume his powers merely by telling the Senate he is fine. “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 . . .” But the VP and cabinet can challenge the President’s claim . . . “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.” So in the nearly inconceivable event JD Vance and a majority the cabinet deem Trump unfit, Trump can resume his powers just by telling Congress he is okay after all. That stands unless Vance and a majority of the cabinet (still serving at the pleasure of the President) again tells Congress “trust us, he’s not okay.” Should that happen, the Constitution provides Congress shall decide. “Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress . . .. 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.” That two-thirds vote by both Houses is actually a higher standard than impeachment. Impeachment requires only a majority vote in the House to refer and two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict. Simply, not only does the 25th Amendment require the additional layer of the cooperation of a cabinet beholden to the President, but it also requires a stronger majority of Congress than impeachment. It is objectively much more difficult than impeachment. If you are thinking about the 25th Amendment, you might want to focus on the far easier path of impeachment. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/4/6/2376573/-Why-The-25th-Amendment-Is-Not-A-Viable-Alternative-To-Impeachment?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/