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→Section 4: Declaration by vice president and cabinet members of president's inability: idk how I managed to overlook this in earlier edits - while pending resignation does not remove one from the line of succession, Chao is Taiwanese-born, and therefore ineligible under Article II, meaning she would still be skipped over should a succession crisis occur before her resignation takes effect
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Undid revision 999545945 by Joefromrandb (talk) what in the world are you talking about? This has nothing to do with eligibility to be president or acting president. This is the list of officials designated to participate in the declaration of presidential inability
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* [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|Secretary of Health and Human Services]] ([[Alex Azar]])
* [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|Secretary of Health and Human Services]] ([[Alex Azar]])
* [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]] ([[Ben Carson]])
* [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]] ([[Ben Carson]])
* [[United States Secretary of Transportation|Secretary of Transportation]] ([[Elaine Chao]] (ineligible under Article II, resigning as of Jan{{nbsp}}11; Steven Bradbury acting)<ref name="cnbc_Tran">{{Cite web |title=Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is first Trump Cabinet member to quit after riot |last=Mangan |first=Dan |work=CNBC |date= |access-date=7 January 2021 |url= https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/07/trump-riot-fallout-officials-quit-over-capitol-mob-attack.html}}</ref>
* [[United States Secretary of Transportation|Secretary of Transportation]] ([[Elaine Chao]] resigning as of Jan{{nbsp}}11; Steven Bradbury acting)<ref name="cnbc_Tran">{{Cite web |title=Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is first Trump Cabinet member to quit after riot |last=Mangan |first=Dan |work=CNBC |date= |access-date=7 January 2021 |url= https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/07/trump-riot-fallout-officials-quit-over-capitol-mob-attack.html}}</ref>
* [[United States Secretary of Energy|Secretary of Energy]] ([[Dan Brouillette]])
* [[United States Secretary of Energy|Secretary of Energy]] ([[Dan Brouillette]])
* [[United States Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]] (vacant; [[Mick Zais]] acting)
* [[United States Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]] (vacant; [[Mick Zais]] acting)

Revision as of 19:06, 10 January 2021

"Twenty-fifth Amendment" redirects here. For other uses, see Twenty-fifth Amendment (disambiguation).
This article is part of a series on the
Constitution
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Preamble and Articles
Amendments to the Constitution
Unratified Amendments:
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Full text

The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability.

It clarifies that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, and establishes how a vacancy in the office of the vice president can be filled.

It also allows for the temporary transfer of the president's duties to the vice president, either by the president alone or by the vice president together with a majority of the president's cabinet. In either case, the vice president becomes acting president. The amendment provides how the presidential powers and duties can be transferred back to the president.

The amendment was submitted to the states on July 6, 1965, by the 89th Congress and was adopted on February 10, 1967, the day that the requisite number of states (38) had ratified it.[1]

Text and effect

Section 1: Presidential succession

Further information: United States presidential line of succession

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 1 clarifies that in the enumerated situations the vice president becomes president, instead of merely assuming the powers and duties of the presidency as acting president.[2]

Section 2: Vice presidential vacancy

Further information: Vice President of the United States § Vacancies

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 2 addresses the Constitution's omission of a mechanism for filling a vacancy in the office of vice president during the term in which the vacancy occurred. Before the Twenty-fifth Amendment a vice presidential vacancy continued until a new vice president took office at the start of the next term. The vice presidency had become vacant several times due to death, resignation, or succession to the presidency, and these vacancies had often lasted several years.[2]

Section 3: President's declaration of inability

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 3 allows the president to voluntarily transfer their authority to the vice president (for example, in anticipation of a medical procedure) by declaring in writing their inability to discharge their duties. The vice president then assumes the powers and duties of the presidency as acting president; the vice president does not become president and the president remains in office, although without authority. The president regains their powers and duties when they declare, in writing, their readiness to discharge them again.[3]: 112-3 

Section 4: Declaration by vice president and cabinet members of president's inability

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[note 1] 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.[5]

Section 4 addresses the case of an incapacitated president who is unable or unwilling to execute the voluntary declaration contemplated by Section 3. It allows the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide",[note 2] to issue a written declaration that the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of their office. Immediately upon such a declaration being sent, the vice president becomes acting president[note 3] while (as with Section 3) the president remains in office, albeit divested of all authority.[7]

John Feerick, the principal drafter of the Amendment,[6]: 5 [8][3]: xii,xx  writes that Congress determined that "a rigid constitutional definition [of the terms unable and inability] was undesirable, since cases of inability could take various forms not neatly fitting into such a definition ... The debates surrounding the Twenty-Fifth Amendment indicate that the terms 'unable' and 'inability' are intended to cover all cases in which some condition or circumstance prevents the President from discharging his powers and duties ..."[3]: 112  A survey of scholarship on Section 4 found:

There is no specific threshold – medical or otherwise – for the "inability" contemplated in Section 4. The framers specifically rejected any definition of the term, prioritizing flexibility. Those implementing Section 4 should focus on whether – in an objective sense taking all of the circumstances into account – the President is "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of the office. The Amendment does not require that any particular type or amount of evidence be submitted to determine that the President is unable to perform his duties. While the framers did imagine that medical evidence would be helpful to the determination of whether the President is unable, neither medical expertise nor diagnosis is required for a determination of inability ... While foremost in [the minds of those who drafted Section 4] was a physical or mental impairment ... Section 4 sets forth a flexible standard intentionally designed to apply to a wide variety of unforeseen emergencies.[6]: 7,20 

The "principal officers of the executive departments" are the fifteen Cabinet members enumerated in the United States Code at 5 U.S.C. § 101 (with officeholders as of January 7, 2021):[9][10]

Acting secretaries can participate in issuing the declaration.[6]: 13  The vice president's participation is essential, and vacancy in the vice presidency rules out invocation of Section 4.[3]: 121 

If a president subsequently issues a declaration claiming to be able, then a four-day period begins during which the vice president remains acting president.[3]: 118-9 [6]: 38n137  If by the end of this period the vice president and a majority of the "principal officers" have not issued a second declaration of the president's incapacity, then the president resumes his powers and duties, but if a second declaration of incapacity is issued within the four days, then the vice president remains acting president while Congress considers the matter. Then if within 21 days the Senate and the House determine, each by a two-thirds vote, that the president is unable, then the vice president continues as acting president; otherwise the president resumes his powers and duties.[note 4]

Section 4's requirement of a two-thirds vote of the House and a two-thirds vote of the Senate contrasts with the Constitution's procedure for removal of the president from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors" – a majority of the House followed by two-thirds of the Senate (Article I, Section 3, Clauses 5 and 6).[13][14]

Historical background

Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution reads:

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, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President ...

This provision is ambiguous as to whether, in the enumerated circumstances, the vice president becomes the president, or merely assumes the "powers and duties" of the presidency. It also fails to define what constitutes inability, or how questions concerning inability are to be resolved.[15] The Twenty-fifth Amendment addressed these deficiencies.[2] The ambiguities in Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution regarding death, resignation, removal, or disability of the president created difficulties several times:

On the death of William Henry Harrison, John Tyler (pictured) became the first vice president to succeed to the presidency.
  • In 1841, William Henry Harrison died in office. It had previously been suggested that the vice president would become acting president upon the death of the president,[16] but Vice President John Tyler asserted that he had succeeded to the presidency, instead of merely assuming its powers and duties; he also declined to acknowledge documents referring to him as acting president. Although Tyler felt his vice presidential oath obviated any need for the presidential oath, he was persuaded that being formally sworn in would resolve any doubts. Accordingly, he took the oath and title of "President," without any qualifiers, moved into the White House and assumed full presidential powers. Though Tyler was sometimes derided as "His Accidency",[17] both houses of Congress adopted a resolution confirming that he was president. The "Tyler precedent" of succession was thus established.[18]
  • Following Woodrow Wilson's stroke in 1919, no one officially assumed his powers and duties, in part because his condition was kept secret by his wife, Edith Wilson, and the White House physician, Cary T. Grayson.[19] By the time Wilson's condition became public knowledge, only a few months remained in his term and Congressional leaders were disinclined to press the issue.[citation needed]
  • Prior to 1967, the office of vice president had become vacant sixteen times due to the death or resignation of the vice president or his succession to the presidency.[20] The vacancy created when Andrew Johnson succeeded to the presidency upon Abraham Lincoln's assassination was one of several that encompassed nearly the entire four-year term. In 1868, Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives and came one vote short of being removed from office by the Senate. Had Johnson been removed, President pro tempore Benjamin Wade would have become acting president in accordance with the Presidential Succession Act of 1792.[21]
  • After several periods of incapacity due to severe health problems, President Dwight D. Eisenhower attempted to clarify procedures through a signed agreement with Vice President Richard Nixon, drafted by Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. However, this agreement did not have legal authority.[22] Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in September 1955 and intestinal problems requiring emergency surgery in July 1956. Each time, until Eisenhower was able to resume his duties, Nixon presided over Cabinet meetings and, along with Eisenhower aides, kept the executive branch functioning and assured the public the situation was under control. However, Nixon never claimed to be president or acting president.[citation needed]

Proposal, enactment, and ratification

Keating–Kefauver proposal

In 1963, Senator Kenneth Keating of New York proposed a Constitutional amendment which would have enabled Congress to enact legislation providing for how to determine when a president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency, rather than, as the Twenty-fifth Amendment does, having the Constitution so provide.[23]: 345  This proposal was based upon a recommendation of the American Bar Association in 1960.[23]: 27 

The text of the proposal read:[23]: 350 

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the said office shall devolve on the Vice President. In case of the inability of the President to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the said powers and duties shall devolve on the Vice President, until the inability be removed. The Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then be President, or, in case of inability, act as President, and such officer shall be or act as President accordingly, until a President shall be elected or, in case of inability, until the inability shall be earlier removed. The commencement and termination of any inability shall be determined by such method as Congress shall by law provide.

Senators raised concerns that the Congress could either abuse such authority,[23]: 30  or neglect to enact any such legislation after the adoption of this proposal.[23]: 34–35  Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, a long-time advocate for addressing the disability question, spearheaded the effort until he died in August 1963.[23]: 28  Senator Keating was defeated in the 1964 election, but Senator Roman Hruska of Nebraska took up Keating's cause as a new member of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments.[22]

Kennedy assassination

By the 1960s, medical advances had made increasingly plausible the scenario of an injured or ill president living a long time while incapacitated. The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 demonstrated to policymakers the need for a clear procedure for determining presidential disability, especially in the context of the Cold War.[24] The new president, Lyndon B. Johnson, had once suffered a heart attack[25] and – with the office of vice president to remain vacant until the next term began on January 20, 1965 – the next two people in the line of succession were the 71-year-old speaker of the House John McCormack[24][26] and the 86-year-old Senate president pro tempore Carl Hayden.[24][26] Senator Birch Bayh succeeded Kefauver as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and set about advocating for a detailed amendment dealing with presidential disability.[24]

Bayh–Celler proposal

The Twenty-fifth Amendment in the National Archives
Page 1
Page 2

On January 6, 1965, Senator Birch Bayh proposed S.J. Res. 1 in the Senate and Representative Emanuel Celler (Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee) proposed H.J. Res. 1 in the House of Representatives. Their proposal specified the process by which a president could be declared "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office", thereby making the vice president an acting president, and how the president could regain the powers of their office. Also, their proposal provided a way to fill a vacancy in the office of vice president before the next presidential election. This was as opposed to the Keating–Kefauver proposal, which neither provided for filling a vacancy in the office of vice president prior to the next presidential election, nor provided a process for determining presidential disability. In 1964, the American Bar Association endorsed the type of proposal which Bayh and Celler advocated.[23]: 348–350  On January 28, 1965, President Johnson endorsed S.J. Res. 1 in a statement to Congress.[22] Their proposal received bipartisan support.[27]

On February 19, the Senate passed the amendment, but the House passed a different version of the amendment on April 13. On April 22, it was returned to the Senate with revisions.[22] There were four areas of disagreement between the House and Senate versions:

  • the Senate official who was to receive any written declaration under the amendment
  • the period of time during which the vice president and principal officers of the executive departments must decide whether they disagree with the president's declaration that they are fit to resume their duties
  • the time before Congress meets to resolve the issue
  • the time limit for Congress to reach a decision.[22]

On July 6, after a conference committee ironed out differences between the versions,[28] the final version of the amendment was passed by both Houses of the Congress and presented to the states for ratification.[23]: 354–358 

Ratification

Nebraska was the first state to ratify, on July 12, 1965, and ratification became complete when Nevada became the 38th state to ratify, on February 10, 1967.[note 5]

When President Lyndon B. Johnson underwent planned surgery in 1965, he was unable to temporarily transfer power to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey because ratification remained incomplete. On February 23, 1967, at the White House ceremony certifying the ratification, Johnson said:

It was 180 years ago, in the closing days of the Constitutional Convention, that the Founding Fathers debated the question of Presidential disability. John Dickinson of Delaware asked this question: "What is the extent of the term 'disability' and who is to be the judge of it?" No one replied. It is hard to believe that until last week our Constitution provided no clear answer. Now, at last, the 25th amendment clarifies the crucial clause that provides for succession to the Presidency and for filling a Vice Presidential vacancy.[31]

Invocations and considered invocations

Section 1

Section 1 operates automatically, without needing to be explicitly invoked: when the president dies, resigns, or is removed, the vice president immediately becomes president. In so providing it merely solemnized accepted practice; John Tyler (1841), Millard Fillmore (1850), Andrew Johnson (1865), Chester A. Arthur (1881), Theodore Roosevelt (1901), Calvin Coolidge (1923), Harry Truman (1945), and Lyndon Johnson (1963) were all deemed to have become president (not merely acting president) on the death of the incumbent president.[6]: ix  Gerald Ford is the only vice president to succeed to the presidency (on the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974) since the adoption of Section 1 in 1967.[32] Ford is also the only person ever to serve as both vice president and president without being elected to either office.[33]

Section 2

1973: Appointment of Gerald Ford as vice president

Further information: 1973 United States vice presidential confirmation

On October 12, 1973, following Vice President Spiro Agnew's resignation two days earlier, President Richard Nixon nominated Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan to succeed Agnew as vice president. The Senate voted 92–3 to confirm Ford on November 27 and, on December 6, the House of Representatives did the same by a vote of 387–35. Ford was sworn in later that day before a joint session of the United States Congress.[34][better source needed]

1974: Appointment of Nelson Rockefeller as vice president

Further information: 1974 United States vice presidential confirmation

When Gerald Ford became president, the office of vice president became vacant. On August 20, 1974, after considering Melvin Laird and George H. W. Bush,[citation needed] Ford nominated former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller to be the new vice president.[34][better source needed] On December 10, Rockefeller was confirmed 90–7 by the Senate.[citation needed] On December 19, he was confirmed 287–128 by the House and was sworn in to office later that day in the Senate chamber.[34][better source needed]

Section 3

Further information: Acting president of the United States
Draft Section 3 letter prepared (though never signed) after Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981.
Reagan letter of July 13, 1985, beginning invocation of 25th Amendment
Letter sent July 13, 1985, by President Ronald Reagan to the House Speaker, invoking Section 3 before undergoing anesthesia.[35]
Reagan letter of July 13, 1985, ending invocation of 25th Amendment
Letter from Reagan declaring he is able to resume the presidential powers

On December 22, 1978, President Jimmy Carter considered invoking Section 3 in advance of hemorrhoid surgery.[36] Since then, presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama also considered invoking Section 3 at various times without doing so.[37]

1985: George H. W. Bush

On July 12, 1985, President Ronald Reagan underwent a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He elected to have the lesion removed immediately,[38] and consulted with White House counsel Fred Fielding about whether to invoke Section 3, and in particular about whether doing so would set an undesirable precedent. Fielding and White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan recommended that Reagan transfer power, and two letters were drafted: one specifically invoking Section 3, the other mentioning only that Reagan was mindful of its provisions. On July 13, Reagan signed the second letter[39] before being placed under general anesthesia for a colectomy,[40] and Vice President George H. W. Bush was acting president from 11:28 a.m. until 7:22 p.m., when Reagan transmitted a followup letter declaring himself able to resume his duties.[41]

In the Fordham Law Review, commentator John Feerick asserted that although Reagan disclaimed any use of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment in his letter (likely out of "fear of the reaction of the country and the world to a 'President' who admitted to being disabled, and concern ... [over] set[ting] a harmful precedent"), he followed the process set forth in Section Three. Furthermore, Feerick noted that "no constitutional provision except the Twenty-Fifth Amendment would have allowed" him to designate the vice president as acting president. Reagan later stated in a memoir that he had, in fact, invoked the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.[42]

2002: Dick Cheney

On June 29, 2002, President George W. Bush explicitly invoked Section 3 in temporarily transferring his powers to Vice President Dick Cheney before undergoing a colonoscopy, which began at 7:09 a.m. Bush awoke about forty minutes later, but did not resume his presidential powers until 9:24 a.m. to ensure any aftereffects had cleared.[39][43] During that time, Vice President Cheney (as acting president) held his regular national security and homeland security meetings with aides at the White House, but made no appearances and took no recorded actions, according to his staff.[43]

In the view of commentator Adam Gustafson, this confident application of Section 3 "rectified" President Reagan's "ambivalent invocation" and provided an example of a "smooth and temporary transition" under Section 3 that paved the way for future applications. Together with the 2007 invocation, it established the reasonableness of invocation for relatively minor inabilities, promoting continuity in the Executive Branch.[44]

2007: Dick Cheney

On July 21, 2007, Bush again invoked Section 3 before another colonoscopy. Cheney was acting president from 7:16 a.m. to 9:21 a.m.[39] During that time, Vice President Cheney (as acting president) remained at home.[44] This 2007 invocation and the 2002 invocation received relatively little attention in the press overall.[44]

Section 4

Section 4 for has never been invoked, though on several occasions its use was considered.

1981: Reagan assassination attempt

See also: Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
Draft Section 4 letter prepared (though never signed) after Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981.

Following the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, Vice President George H. W. Bush did not assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president. Reagan had been rushed into surgery with no opportunity to invoke Section 3; Bush did not invoke Section 4 because he was on a plane at the time of the shooting, and Reagan was out of surgery by the time Bush landed in Washington.[45] In 1995, Birch Bayh, the primary sponsor of the amendment in the Senate, wrote that Section 4 should have been invoked.[46] Physician to the President Daniel Ruge, who supervised Reagan's treatment immediately after the shooting, said he had erred by not having Reagan invoke Section 3 because the president needed general anesthesia and was in an intensive care unit.[47]

1987: Reagan's possible incapacity

From the 1970s onwards, Reagan's political opponents alleged that he showed signs of dementia.[48] According to Reagan biographer Edmund Morris, staffers to White House chief of staff Howard Baker intended to use their first meeting with Reagan in 1987 to evaluate whether he was "losing his mental grip". However, Reagan "came in stimulated by the press of all these new people and performed splendidly".[49][50][51]

Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, five years after leaving office.[52] The president told neurosurgeon Daniel Ruge, according to Ruge in 1980, that he expected doctors to test his memory, and promised to resign if it deteriorated. After the 1994 diagnosis, Ruge said he never found any sign of Alzheimer's while talking to him almost every day from 1981 to 1985.[47]

2017: Trump fires James Comey

See also: Dismissal of James Comey

After President Donald Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey in May 2017, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe claimed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein held high-level discussions within the Justice Department about approaching Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet about possibly invoking Section 4.[citation needed] Miles Taylor, who anonymously authored "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" and A Warning, also wrote that he and other aides considered approaching Pence to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment.[53] A spokesperson later said that Rosenstein denied pursuing the Twenty-fifth Amendment, and Pence strongly denied considering invoking Section 4.[53][54] On March 15, 2019, Senator Lindsey Graham stated the Senate Judiciary Committee would investigate the discussions and seek related documents.[55]

2021: Trump and the storming of the Capitol

See also: 2021 efforts to remove Donald Trump from office

After President Donald Trump was accused of having incited the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,[56][57][58] there were several calls for Section 4 to be invoked. Proponents included Representatives Ted Lieu and Charlie Crist, former Defense Secretary William Cohen, and the National Association of Manufacturers (which asked Vice President Pence to "seriously consider" invoking the amendment).[59] By evening, some of Trump's Cabinet members were also reportedly considering invoking Section 4.[60] In a New York magazine article, law professor Paul Campos also supported using Section 4 "immediately" and "for the good of the nation."[61] On January 7, incoming Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also called for Section 4 to be invoked.[62][63]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The expression "executive departments" is used in § 4 in both the singular and the plural. The plural was what was intended. The use of the singular was inadvertent.[4]
  2. ^ No alternative "other body" has ever been designated.[citation needed] Congress's discretion in designating such a body and how it would deliberate is "vast" – it could even designate itself[6]: 16  – but any designating act would be subject to presidential veto (which in turn can be overridden by two-thirds of both the House and Senate) just like any other statute.[6]: 14  Should such a body be created, it would become the only body capable of acting in concert with the vice president under Section 4 – the fifteen cabinet officers would no longer have a role.[6]: 14-15 
  3. ^ The transfer of power to the vice president occurs at the moment the declaration is sent to the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate, not at the moment of receipt.[6]: 39 
  4. ^ If Congress is in session when it receives the second declaration of incapacity, the 21 days begins at that point; otherwise they begin at the end of the 48 hours given for Congress to assemble. The president resumes his powers and duties when either the Senate or the House holds a vote on the question which falls short of the two-thirds requirement, or the 21 days pass without both votes having been taken.[6]: 52 [12]
  5. ^ The states ratified as follows:[29]
    1. Nebraska (July 12, 1965)
    2. Wisconsin (July 13, 1965)
    3. Oklahoma (July 16, 1965)
    4. Massachusetts (August 9, 1965)
    5. Pennsylvania (August 18, 1965)
    6. Kentucky (September 15, 1965)
    7. Arizona (September 22, 1965)
    8. Michigan (October 5, 1965)
    9. Indiana (October 20, 1965)
    10. California (October 21, 1965)
    11. Arkansas (November 4, 1965)
    12. New Jersey (November 29, 1965)
    13. Delaware (December 7, 1965)
    14. Utah (January 17, 1966)
    15. West Virginia (January 20, 1966)
    16. Maine (January 24, 1966)
    17. Rhode Island (January 28, 1966)
    18. Colorado (February 3, 1966)
    19. New Mexico (February 3, 1966)
    20. Kansas (February 8, 1966)
    21. Vermont (February 10, 1966)
    22. Alaska (February 18, 1966)
    23. Idaho (March 2, 1966)
    24. Hawaii (March 3, 1966)
    25. Virginia (March 8, 1966)
    26. Mississippi (March 10, 1966)
    27. New York (March 14, 1966)
    28. Maryland (March 23, 1966)
    29. Missouri (March 30, 1966)
    30. New Hampshire (June 13, 1966)
    31. Louisiana (July 5, 1966)
    32. Tennessee (January 12, 1967)
    33. Wyoming (January 25, 1967)
    34. Washington (January 26, 1967)
    35. Iowa (January 26, 1967)
    36. Oregon (February 2, 1967)
    37. Minnesota (February 10, 1967)
    38. Nevada (February 10, 1967, at which point ratification was complete)[30]
    39. Connecticut (February 14, 1967)
    40. Montana (February 15, 1967)
    41. South Dakota (March 6, 1967)
    42. Ohio (March 7, 1967)
    43. Alabama (March 14, 1967)
    44. North Carolina (March 22, 1967)
    45. Illinois (March 22, 1967)
    46. Texas (April 25, 1967)
    47. Florida (May 25, 1967)

    The following states have not ratified:

    1. Georgia
    2. North Dakota
    3. South Carolina

References

  1. ^ Mount, Steve. "Ratification of Constitutional Amendments". ussconstitution.net. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Interpretation: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment | The National Constitution Center". constitutioncenter.org.
  3. ^ a b c d e Feerick, John D. (2014). The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Applications. Fordham University Press. ISBN 978-0-8232-5201-5.
  4. ^ Bayh, Birch and Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee; Committee on the Judiciary. Senate. United States., "Selected Materials on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, Senate Document No. 93-42." (1973). Congressional Materials. 17.
  5. ^ "Presidential Vacancy and Disability Twenty-Fifth Amendment" (PDF). Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, Library of Congress. September 26, 2002. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic (2018). The Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution: A Reader's Guide (PDF).
  7. ^ Bomboy, Scott (October 12, 2017). "Can the Cabinet "remove" a President using the 25th amendment?". The Constitution Center. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  8. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (December 13, 1981). "John D. Feerick named dean of Fordham Law". The New York Times. p. 61.
  9. ^ "Operation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Respecting Presidential Succession" (PDF). United States Department Of Justice.
  10. ^ Prokop, Andrew (January 2, 2018). "The 25th Amendment, explained: how a president can be declared unfit to serve". Vox. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  11. ^ Mangan, Dan. "Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is first Trump Cabinet member to quit after riot". CNBC. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  12. ^ Kalt, Brian C. (2012). Constitutional cliffhangers: a legal guide for presidents and their enemies. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300123517. OCLC 842262440.
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