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Public interest in the Twenty-fifth Amendment, measured by:
Wikipedia article pageviews[1]
Google Trends data[2]

During Donald Trump's presidency discussions have frequently resurfaced as to the applicability of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to his behavior. Public interest first arose after the conclusion of the 2016 election in November 2016.[3][4] Around this time, never-Trumper David Frum predicted in a tweet that there would be more reporting about the Amendment in the future.[5] Keith Olbermann, in his vlog for GQ magazine, laid out his reasons for thinking Trump would already qualify, and compared dismissal through its process to how Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill lost their prime ministership in the United Kingdom.[6][7]

In January 2017, around the time of the inauguration, Richard Cohen for the The Washington Post,[8] Jeffrey Frank for The New Yorker,[9] Heather Digby Parton for Salon,[10] Gabriel Schoenfeld for USA Today[11] and Rosa Brooks for Foreign Policy magazine[12] highlighted the Amendment as a possible way Donald Trump's presidency could effectively end.

External videos
video icon Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) on 25th Amendment & Presidential Succession for President Trump
February 15, 2017
, C-SPAN

On February 15, 2017 Earl Blumenauer took to the floor of the House of Representatives to urge a review of the Amendment in light of the turbulent early weeks of the Trump presidency.[13]

Representatives Blumenauer and Jamie Raskin introduced the Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity Act on April 14, 2017.[14] The bill would replace the Cabinet as the body that, together with the Vice President, determines whether Section 4 should be invoked. Under the bill, an eleven-member commission would conduct an examination of the President when directed to do so by a concurrent resolution of the Congress.[15]

According to Blumenauer:

"It is hard to imagine a better group to work with the vice president to examine whether the president is able to discharge the duties of the office. When there are questions about the president’s ability to fulfill his or her constitutional responsibilities, it is in the country’s best interest to have a mechanism in place that works effectively."[15]

Ross Douthat wrote two columns for The New York Times in May 2017 advocating for it after Trump had dismissed James Comey[16] and disclosed classified information to Russian government representatives.[17] Responses were mixed: Jonathan Bernstein at Bloomberg[18], Ian Tuttle in National Review,[19] and John Daniel Davidson at The Federalist[20] concluded that there would likely be a political crisis if elites invoked a contested interpretation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick,[21] judged it highly unlikely that cabinet officials would initiate its procedures.[22] Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post characterized Douthat's interpretation of the Amendment not only as wrong, but dangerous.[23][21]

#25thAmendment became trending on Twitter July 2nd after Trump tweeted a gif of himself physically attacking a personification of CNN and disparaging remarks about Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski.[24] The hashtag got further amplified the following day when Jon Cooper, chair of the Democratic Coalition, tweeted that he had a White House source that had told him it was making Trump furious.[25][26][27]

The Amendment reentered the newscycle after Donald Trump escalated the conflict with North Korea on August 8th by warning that their nuclear threats would "be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before," and made comments on August 12th, following a far-right rally in Charlottesville, that were seen as implying a moral equivalence between white supremacist marchers and those who protested them.[28][29] These events led Jackie Speier, Congressperson for California, to publically demand the Amendment's invocation on August 16th.[30][31][32] Congressperson Zoe Lofgren introduced a resolution on August 18th urging Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet to consider the 25th Amendment, citing concerns about Donald Trump's mental health.[33][34][35]

On October 11th, Vanity Fair reported that Steve Bannon had warned Donald Trump that the Twenty-fifth Amendment could pose a bigger risk to his presidency than impeachment. Trump reportedly didn't know about the Amendment.[36]

In January 2018, it was reported by Michael Wolff in his book Fire and Fury that the Twenty-fifth Amendment had been a frequent topic of discussion among the staff of the White House.[37][38]

On September 5th 2018, The New York Times published an op-ed titled I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration in which an anonymous source from within the White House states that there had been cabinet-level discussions about invoking the Amendment.[39]

  1. ^ "Pageviews Analysis". tools.wmflabs.org. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
  2. ^ "Google Trends for "Twenty-fifth Amendment to the US constitution"". Retrieved 2018-08-09.
  3. ^ Josh Magness (2017-10-12). "What is the 25th amendment — and why are people talking about it?". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  4. ^ "Trump reportedly didn't know about the loophole in the 25th Amendment that lets 14 people remove a sitting president from office". Business Insider. 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  5. ^ David Frum [@davidfrum] (November 16, 2016). "Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Article 4. We're all going to be talking a lot more about it in the months ahead" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Keith Olbermann (2016-11-23). "The Surprisingly Easy Way to Get Rid of Donald Trump". GQ Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
  7. ^ "No, Trump Won't Be Removed From Office With the 25th Amendment". Slate Magazine. 2017-02-03. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  8. ^ Richard Cohen (2017-01-09). "How to remove Trump from office". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  9. ^ Jeffrey Frank (2017-01-05). "What If a President Loses Control?". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  10. ^ Heather Digby Parton (2017-01-25). "Don't look now: It's President Pence! Donald Trump can be deposed, even without impeachment". Salon. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  11. ^ Gabriel Schoenfeld (2017-01-29). "What if Trump loses his mind?". USA Today. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  12. ^ Rosa Brooks (2017-01-30). "3 Ways to Get Rid of President Trump Before 2020". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  13. ^ David Millward (17 February 2017). "Congressman urges review of US constitution 25th Amendment because of Donald Trump's 'erratic behaviour'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  14. ^ H.R. 1987
  15. ^ a b Marcos, Cristina (April 17, 2017). "House Democrat introduces bill to amend presidential removal procedures". The Hill. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Ross Douthat (2017-05-13). "Opinion | Donald Trump Does Not Surprise". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  17. ^ Ross Douthat (2017-05-16). "Opinion | The 25th Amendment Solution for Removing Trump". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  18. ^ Jonathan Bernstein (2017-05-17). "No, Not the 25th Amendment". Bloomberg. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  19. ^ Ian Tuttle (18 May 2017). "Against the '25th Amendment Option' | National Review". National Review. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  20. ^ John Daniel Davidson (2017-05-17). "The Elites' Dangerous Fantasy About Removing Trump From Office". The Federalist. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  21. ^ a b Dahlia Lithwick (2017-05-17). "Is Donald Trump Too Incapacitated to Be President? Not in This America". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  22. ^ Rosen, Jeffrey. "The 25th Amendment Makes Presidential Disability a Political Question". The Atlantic.
  23. ^ Jennifer Rubin (2017-05-17). "Opinion | Let's be clear about what the 25th Amendment does and doesn't do". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  24. ^ "#25thAmendment Trends As Calls For Trump's Removal Grow". HuffPost. 2017-07-03. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  25. ^ "WH source: Trump was FURIOUS to learn calls to remove him from office by invoking #25thAmendment are trending on Twitter. Hit a raw nerve". 2017-07-03.
  26. ^ "Trump reportedly 'furious' after calls to kick him out of office trend on Twitter". Daily Dot. 2017-07-03.
  27. ^ "Trump 'Furious' After Calls For His Impeachment Trend On Twitter". Distractify. 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2018-08-08. #25thAmendment
  28. ^ Peter Fenn (2017-08-18). "Time for the 25th Amendment". US News & World Report. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  29. ^ David Faris (2017-05-17). "Could the 25th Amendment really remove Trump from office?". theweek.com. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  30. ^ "Rep. Jackie Speier demands Trump's ouster under the 25th Amendment". San Francisco Chronicle. 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  31. ^ Aqui, Reggie (2017-08-16). "Congresswoman calls for Trump's removal under 25th Amendment". ABC7 San Francisco. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  32. ^ Jean Elle (2017-08-15). "Congresswoman on Trump: 'Time to Invoke the 25th Amendment'". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  33. ^ "Lofgren introduces resolution urging Vice President and Cabinet to fulfill duties under 25th Amendment". Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2018-08-08. urging Vice President and Cabinet
  34. ^ Jeff Stein (2017-08-18). "Read a House Democrat's new bill asking for Trump to be removed via the 25th Amendment". Vox. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  35. ^ Casey Tolan (2017-08-18). "Zoe Lofgren calls for Trump to get mental exam to determine if he should be removed from office". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  36. ^ Sherman, Gabriel (2017-10-11). ""I Hate Everyone": Trump Seethes as Advisers Fear He Is "Unraveling"". The Hive. Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  37. ^ "Why the 25th Amendment Doesn't Apply to Trump—No Matter What He Tweets". POLITICO Magazine. 2018-01-10. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  38. ^ Sean Illing (2018-01-10). "Can the 25th Amendment be invoked to remove Trump from office? We asked one of its authors". Vox. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  39. ^ "Opinion | I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration". New York Times. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 6 September 2018.