John Feerick was quoted in the Los Angeles Times about the 25th Amendment.
Section 4 of the amendment provides that if the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” they can notify Congress that the vice president is taking over. If the president objects, Congress can vote on the question. A two-thirds majority in each house is required to remove the president from office.
There are two reasons that mechanism isn’t likely to be used against Trump.
The substantive reason is that the amendment was drafted with medical incapacity in mind, not general unfitness for office.
“If you read the debates … unpopularity is not included, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct — none of that,” John D. Feerick, a professor at Fordham Law School who helped draft the amendment, said recently.
