Amendment 25 - Can Trump be removed from office before January 20 due to the congressional storming?
Against the background of the congressional storming by supporters of the outgoing US President Donald Trump, and their committing riots and violence inside and around the building, conversations began circulating among Congressmen about the activation of the twenty-fifth amendment to the US Constitution, which allows the president to be dismissed in specific cases.
According to Reuters, many American politicians, including Republicans from Trump's party, held the latter responsible for the violence and riots in and around Congress, during the joint session of members of the House of Representatives and Senate to ratify the electoral college vote result in the presidential election, which President-elect Joe Biden won .
The agency quoted sources as saying that preliminary discussions took place between US government ministers and officials loyal to Trump regarding the activation of Amendment 25.
The agency explained that there are two ways to remove the US president from office: an impeachment trial in Congress during which both the House of Representatives and the Senate vote by a two-thirds majority to remove the president, or to activate the 25th amendment to the Constitution, and in both cases the vice president assumes the duties of the president until the end of the presidential term.
Amendment 25 was introduced to the American Constitution after the killing of the late President John F. Kennedy in 1963, and it was adopted to become part of the American Constitution in 1967, and its purpose was to deal with emergency scenarios during which the American president is absent for a sudden emergency such as illness or death, but some constitutional scholars see the possibility Activate him in the event that the President commits grave breaches that necessitate his removal from office.
In order to activate the 25th amendment to the Constitution, Vice President Mike Pence and the majority of government ministers will have to declare Trump's inability to perform his duties, and then remove him and take over the presidency until the end of Trump's term on January 20.
Trump can then announce that he is able to resume his duties, and in the event that Pence and the majority of government ministers do not object, the president can actually return to the exercise of his office, but in the event that Pence and the majority of government ministers object, the matter will be referred to Congress to vote on the president's authority to return to office, Until Congress rules on the matter, the vice president will continue to exercise the president's powers.
In order for the president to return to office, more than two-thirds of the members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate must vote for him, but the Congress, with the Democrats dominating the majority in both houses, can delay the vote on Trump's return until the end of his presidential term on January 20.
