The conversation
Federal leaders have two options if they want to control Trump
As the world reacts to the January 6 armed attack on the United States Capitol, encouraged by President Donald Trump, many Americans wonder what will happen next. Members of Congress, senior officials and even large corporations and business groups have called for Trump’s removal. Prominent elected and appointed officials already seem to have marginalized Trump informally. Vice President Mike Pence was reportedly the highest-ranking official to review the decision to call the DC National Guard to respond to the attack on the Capitol. Informal actions like this may continue, but political leaders are also considering more formal options. They have two ways of dealing with this: impeachment and the 25th Amendment. Impeachment Article II of the US Constitution authorizes Congress to remove and remove the president – and other federal officials – from office for “Treason, Bribery or Other Crimes and Misdemeanors” The founders included this provision as a tool to punish a president for misconduct. conduct and abuses of power. It is one of many ways that Congress keeps the executive branch under control. Campaign procedures begin at the House of Representatives. A member of the Chamber presents an impeachment resolution. The resolution goes to the House Judiciary Committee, which usually holds a hearing to evaluate the resolution. If the House Judiciary Committee thinks that impeachment is appropriate, its members write and vote on impeachment articles. Once the House Judiciary Committee approves the impeachment articles, they go to the vote in plenary. If the House of Representatives impeach a president or other official, the action then proceeds to the Senate. According to Article I of the Constitution, the Senate has the responsibility to determine whether the person should be removed from office. Normally, the Senate conducts a trial, but controls its procedures and can limit the process if it wants to. Ultimately, the Senate votes on the removal of the president – which requires a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators. So far, the Senate has never voted to remove a president from office, although he almost did so in 1868, when President Andrew Johnson escaped removal by one vote. The Senate also has the power to disqualify a public official from holding public office in the future. If the person is convicted and removed from office, only then will senators be able to vote if they permanently disqualify him from federal office again. Members of Congress proposing Trump’s impeachment have promised to include a clause to do so. A simple majority of votes is all that is needed then. 25th Amendment The 25th Amendment to the Constitution provides a second way for high-level officials to remove a president from office. It was ratified in 1967 following the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy – which was succeeded by Lyndon Johnson, who had previously had a heart attack – as well as the late disclosure of health problems experienced by Kennedy’s predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower. 25th Amendment provides detailed procedures on what happens if a president resigns, dies in office, has a temporary disability or is no longer fit for office. It was never invoked against a president’s will and was used only to temporarily transfer power, as when a president is undergoing a medical procedure that requires anesthesia. Section 4 of the 25th Amendment authorizes high-level officials – both the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet or other body appointed by Congress – to remove a president from office without his consent when he is “unable to fulfill the powers and duties your position “. Congress has yet to designate an alternative body, and scholars disagree about the role, if any, of office staff in office. High-level officials simply send a written statement to the Senate pro tempore president – the longest-serving senator of the majority party – and the speaker of the House of Representatives, stating that the president is unable to exercise the powers and duties of his office . The vice president immediately assumes the powers and duties of the president. The president, however, can fight back. He or she can try to regain his powers by informing Congressional leadership in writing that he is fit for the post and that there is no disability. But the president does not recover the presidency just by saying so. Senior officials who originally questioned the president’s fitness have four days to decide whether they disagree with the president. If they notify the Congress leadership that they disagree, the vice president remains in control and Congress has 48 hours to meet to discuss the matter. Congress has 21 days to debate and vote on whether the president is unable or unable to resume his powers. The vice president remains the incumbent president until Congress votes or the 21-day period expires. A two-thirds majority vote of members of both houses of Congress is needed to remove the president from office. If voting fails or does not take place within the 21-day period, the president resumes his powers immediately. It is possible that Trump will remain in office until the end of his term on January 20. But once he leaves office, he will no longer have the presidential immunity that has protected him, at least partially, from many criminal and civil investigations into his mandate and before him.[Get our most insightful politics and election stories. Sign up for The Conversation’s Politics Weekly.]This article was republished from The Conversation, a non-profit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Kirsten Carlson, Wayne State University. Read more: * How does the 25th Amendment work and can it be used to remove Trump from office after an attack on the US Capitol? * The Capitol insurrection challenged the way the US media frames the unrest and shapes public opinion Kirsten Carlson does not work, consult, own shares or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and did not disclose relevant affiliations in addition to your academic appointment.