On January 6, the United States Capitol was breached for the first time since the War of 1812. Only instead of a foreign invasion, these insurgents were supporters of the President of the United States. They had just attended a “Stop the Steal” rally, where the President exhorted them to “walk to the Capitol.”
The entire Congress, their staff members, and others were rushed into safe spaces within the building while the intruders rampaged, rummaged, and destroyed property. They had to stay in hiding for six hours before Congressional business could resume.
Five individuals died as a result of the melee, including a Capitol police officer who was bashed in the head with a fire extinguisher.
Since his 2020 election loss, the President has been visibly obsessed with trying to get the results overturned. And now, a majority of those polled by Politico.com believe that he bears some responsibility for the violent scenes they witnessed at the Capitol.
On Thursday, Representative Adam Kinzinger became the first Republican currently serving in Congress to call for the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment. On Friday, GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski called upon the President to resign. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to call Vice President Mike Pence to ask him about invoking the 25th Amendment.
“The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th Amendment. If the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president,” Schumer said.
History of the 25th Amendment
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment
When critics of President Trump talk about invoking the 25th Amendment, they are referring to Section 4, which allows the Vice President and members of the Cabinet or Congress to force a transfer of power if they determine together that the President is unable to discharge his duties. It’s the only section that has never been invoked.
Legal scholar Brian Kalt wrote an entire book on section 4 of the 25th Amendment. “25A is meant to transfer power swiftly when the president is completely incapacitated,” he explained in a tweet last year. “Think coma, serious stroke, severe dementia.”
“The 25th Amendment is designed not to work,” Kalt told Slate on Thursday. “It isn’t a way to get rid of the President. It really is supposed to be about when he’s incapacitated, not doing bad things. Impeachment is for bad things.”
