How could Trump be removed from office before his term ends on January 20?
By Jan Wolfe
(Reuters) – The storming of the United States Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump on Wednesday prompted some lawmakers to remove him from office before President-elect Joe Biden was sworn in on January 20.
The chaotic scenes unfolded after Republican Trump, who refused to engage in a peaceful transfer of power, addressed thousands of protesters and repeated unfounded claims that the election was stolen from him .
There are two ways to remove a president: the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution and impeachment followed by conviction in the Senate. In both scenarios, Vice President Mike Pence would take over until Biden’s inauguration.
A source familiar with the effort said here that there had been preliminary discussions between some Cabinet members and Trump allies over invoking the 25th Amendment.
What is the purpose of the 25th Amendment?
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967 and adopted following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, deals with presidential succession and disability.
Section 4 deals with situations where a chair is unable to do the job but does not withdraw voluntarily.
The drafters of the 25th Amendment clearly intended to apply it when a president is incapacitated by physical or mental illness, experts say. Some academics have also argued that this could also apply more broadly to a president dangerously unfit for office.
For the 25th Amendment to be invoked, Pence and the majority of Trump’s cabinet would have to declare Trump incapable of serving as President and remove him. Pence would take over, in this scenario.
Trump could later declare that he is able to return to work. If Pence and the majority of the Cabinet do not challenge Trump’s resolve, Trump will regain power. If they dispute Trump’s statement, then the matter would be decided by Congress, but Pence would continue to act as president until then.
A two-thirds majority of both chambers would be needed to keep Trump out. But the Democratic-controlled House might simply delay voting on the substantive dispute until Trump’s term ends, said Paul Campos, a constitutional law professor at the University of Colorado.
Campos said the 25th Amendment would be an appropriate way to remove Trump from office and has the advantage of being faster than impeachment.
“Pence could instantly become president, while impeachment and sentencing could take at least a few days,” Campos said.
Can Trump be impeached and impeached?
Yes.
A misconception about “impeachment” is that it refers to the removal of a president from office. In fact, impeachment refers only to the House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress, laying charges that a president has engaged in a “serious felony or misdemeanor” – similar to an indictment in a criminal case.
If a simple majority of the 435 members of the House approves the laying of charges, known as “articles of impeachment,” the process passes to the Senate, the upper house, which holds a trial to determine the president’s guilt. The Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict and remove a president.
Trump had previously been impeached by the Democratic-led U.S. House in December 2019 for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress because of his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son. Trump was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate in February 2020.
What “felony and serious misdemeanor” could Trump be accused of?
Frank Bowman, professor of constitutional law at the University of Missouri, said Trump “may have instigated sedition,” or an attempt to overthrow the US government.
But Bowman said Trump could also be impeached for a more general offense: disloyalty to the U.S. Constitution and failure to follow his oath. Congress has the discretion to define a felony and a serious misdemeanor and is not limited to actual criminal offenses.
“The essential offense would be an offense against the Constitution – an attempt in essence to undermine the legal results of a legally conducted election,” Bowman said.
(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Additional reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Grant McCool and Lisa Shumaker)