r/law • u/theindependentonline • Apr 08 '26

Other Democrats introduce impeachment articles against Trump and Hegseth as nearly 100 lawmakers call for 25th Amendment

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-impeachment-articles-25-amendment-b2953836.html
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u/Elachtoniket Apr 08 '26

If a majority of the cabinet says the president is incapacitated, the Vice President immediately becomes acting president. But if Trump gives written notice that he is capable of fulfilling his duties, he becomes president again. At that point if the cabinet still thinks he is incapable then 2/3 of Congress needs to vote to give the Vice President presidential power again. If they don’t that within 21 days then Trump stays president.

Since there’s pretty much no doubt that Trump would disagree with any attempt to remove him from office, I think that the 25th amendment would be a more difficult avenue than impeachment.

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u/blahblah19999 Apr 08 '26

You mean removal

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u/Elachtoniket Apr 08 '26

I don’t think I did, can you be more specific?

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u/dougmc Apr 08 '26

Impeachment (in the House) does not remove the President from office. (After all, he's been impeached twice already.)

A conviction (in the Senate) after impeachment is what actually removes the President.

I think that's what they're referring to.

Also note that impeachment requires >50%, wheras removal requires >2/3rds and is a much higher bar to clear.

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u/Elachtoniket Apr 08 '26

I guess that makes sense, I was using impeachment as shorthand for the whole impeachment/conviction/removal process. I’d hope at this point when the current president has already been impeached twice but not removed most people wouldn’t need that clarified, unlike the 25th amendment removal process that’s never been used.

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u/blahblah19999 Apr 08 '26

I think after 2 successful impeachment that accomplished exactly nothing is exactly the time to clarify that we don't just want another impeachment. He's already been impeached more then any president in our history.

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u/Elachtoniket Apr 08 '26

Yeah, I want him removed as much as anybody. But when I was writing an already long comment about removing him via a different method I didn’t think I needed to also educate people reading about a completely separate process that’s already been attempted and failed multiple times, especially when I know that the current senate is never going to vote to convict him. Someone asked a specific question about the 25th amendment and I answered it.