Mike Pence could become US President if Trump is removed before January 20, 2021
Calls to remove United States President Donald Trump before his term ends on January 20, 2021, began to surface after supporters attacked the Capitol building to cancel Joe Biden's winning certification.
The call came from several members of parliament. Especially during the protests that ended in chaos, Trump also incited his supporters with unsubstantiated claims.
The chaos ensued as Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, and he spoke to thousands of protesters and repeated the baseless claim that elections had been stolen from him.
Quoting Reuters on Thursday (7/1), there are two ways to remove the president from office: the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution and impeachment followed by Senate punishment. In either scenario, Vice President Mike Pence would take over until Biden's inauguration.
A source familiar with the effort said there had been some initial discussion here among some Cabinet members and Trump's allies about implementing the 25th Amendment.
What is the purpose of the 25th Amendment?
The 25th Amendment, which was ratified in 1967 and adopted after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, deals with the president's succession and disability.
Section 4 discusses situations in which a president is unable to perform his job but does not resign voluntarily.
The drafters of the 25th Amendment were clearly intended to apply when a president is incapacitated due to a physical or mental illness, experts say. Some scholars also argue that it could also apply more broadly to a president who is unfit for office.
For the 25th Amendment to take effect, Pence and the majority of Trump's Cabinet will need to declare Trump unable to perform presidential duties and fire him. Pence would take over, in that scenario.
Trump can then declare that he is capable of continuing his work. If Pence and the majority of Cabinet members do not oppose Trump's resolve, Trump will regain power. If they dispute Trump's declaration, the matter will then be decided by Congress, but Pence will continue to act as president until then.
A two-thirds majority of both Chambers of Commerce will be needed to keep Trump out of action. But the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives could easily postpone voting on substantive disputes until Trump's term ends, said Paul Campos, a constitutional law professor at the University of Colorado.
Campos said the 25th Amendment would be the right way to remove Trump from office and have a quicker advantage over impeachment.
"Pence could become president right away, while impeachment and punishment could take at least a few days," said Campos.
Can Trump be impeached and removed? Yes.
The misconception about "impeachment" is that it refers to removing the president from office. In fact, impeachment refers only to the House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress, which demands that a president be involved in a "crime or minor offense" - akin to an indictment in a criminal case.
If a modest majority of the 435 DPR members agree to file an indictment, known as the "impeachment article," the process moves to the Senate, the upper house, which holds trials to determine the president's guilt. The constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict and remove a president.
Trump was previously impeached by the Democratic-led House of Representatives in December 2019 over allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and his son. Trump was released by the Republican-led Senate in February 2020.
What "crimes and petty offenses" can Trump charge?
Frank Bowman, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Missouri, said Trump was "arguably inciting sedition," or attempts to overthrow the US government.
But Bowman said Trump could also be impeached for a more general offense: disloyalty to the US Constitution and failure to uphold his oath of office. Congress has discretion in defining crimes and minor offenses and is not limited to actual criminal offenses.
"An essential violation is a violation of the Constitution - one that is basically trying to undermine an election result that is lawful," said Bowman.
