Invoking the 25th Amendment Will Not Remove President Trump From Office

by Rod Williams, Sept. 3, 2026- I see a lot of memes and even comments by politicians and pundits saying it is time to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the President from office. Even the governor of California and Democrat members of Congress have said this. They are all wrong. The 25th Amendment was not designed for a cabinet palace coup. The 25th does not work that way. 

Let me be clear: I think Trump is a traitorous, crooked, authoritarian, ignorant buffoon, bully, and jerk. I think he is unfit for office. I would like him to be removed from office, and I wouldn't weep if he came to the end of his time on earth due to natural causes. So, I want him gone. However, it cannot be done by the use of the 25th Amendment. 

This was explained in an article in National Review today. Below is an excerpt:

 And yet, even though they’re right about the president’s character and behavior, the chorus of situational constitutionalists calling for Trump’s removal are nonetheless barking up the wrong tree now. They are wrong about the 25th Amendment, and particularly wrong to claim that the situation we are in is exactly what the amendment is for. It most certainly is not intended for such circumstances, and it in fact could not be used in them, whatever you think of Donald Trump.

The article then explains what prompted the 25th Amendment, what it does, and why it is not an effective tool for removing a president from office for any reason other than the president being "unable" to do the job.  If the Cabinet invokes the 25th, and the President objects, he can then go to Congress and contest his removal. His removal would still have to be resolved by Congress. Keeping the vice president in power as acting president over the president’s objection would require two-thirds votes in both houses. This is a higher threshold in Congress than impeachment and removal, which require a simple majority in the House and two-thirds only in the Senate.

Also, the President cannot be removed from office by invoking the 25th because he renamed Lake Ontario, or because he rounded up illegal and some legal immigrants, and the occasional American citizen, and sent them to hellhole countries or to torture prisons. He can't be removed by invoking the 25th because he threatened to take Greenland or picked a stupid trade war with Canada.  He can't be removed because he is a crook. The 25th cannot be invoked because of a policy dispute or stupid offensive behavior. It can only be used to remove a president if the president is 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.'

Below is the full text of the 25th Amendment. Read section IV carefully. I have underlined some important provisions. 

25th Amendment

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

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.

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