Concerns about Biden’s mental acuity and calls for him to withdraw from the race have raised questions about the 25th Amendment and what role Vice President Kamala Harris might play in setting the process in motion.
The 25th Amendment to the Constitution provides that the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet may declare the President unfit to serve, in which case the Vice President would become Acting President, but the amendment specifically providing for this procedure has never been used.
Experts spoke to Fox News Digital about what this unprecedented process will look like.
“The debate on the 25th Amendment was designed to be difficult,” Jonathan Turley, a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, told Fox News Digital. “I highly doubt that Harris will play Brutus for Biden.”
Democratic Party officials who promoted the 25th Amendment during the Trump administration are silent on invoking it under Biden
Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden. (Janek Skarzynski/AFP via Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“First, it is unlikely she would have the necessary Cabinet support. If she were to fail to seek his removal, she would be seen not only as premature but also as downright predatory. With the entire White House staff lining up to support the president, it would be seen as a moment of rebellion.”
Several Republicans Calling The 25th Amendment to the Constitution is invoked.
“What we’re seeing is that rather than taking action that is in the best interest of the American people, they’ve decided to shield Joe Biden in order to protect their own radical agenda,” Republican Rep. Byron Donald recently told Fox News. “If this resolution were to come to a vote in Congress, I would be in support of it 100 percent. But at the end of the day, Kamala Harris and her cabinet are accountable to the American people. They have a constitutional duty to the American people.”
Republican Rep. Tenney calls for invoking 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office following ‘alarming’ HUR report
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the “Women’s Economic Participation in Industries of the Future” conference during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Week in San Francisco on November 16, 2023. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
“Given the rhetoric of the past 24 hours,” Turley said, President Biden “will likely challenge the Constitution in a disastrous showdown on the eve of the Constitutional Convention.”
“President Biden will likely quote Grover Cleveland and say, ‘The ship of democracy that has weathered all storms may be sunk by mutiny,'” Turley added. “And if that happens, it may be Harris who gets thrown overboard, not the president.”
Zach Smith, a legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, also told Fox News Digital that the amendment’s language would give Biden an opportunity to respond.
“The amendment provides that Ms. Harris cannot act alone,” Smith explained.
“The Fourth Amendment provides that the Vice President becomes Acting President if ‘the Vice President and a majority of the principal officers of the executive department, or such other authority as Congress may by law provide’ notifies both Houses of Congress in writing that the President is unable to perform his duties. Of course, Congress has not provided for an alternative authority, so that role falls to ‘principal officers of the executive department.’ Most people think of this role as referring to Cabinet members, but there may be some ambiguity about who is included in this group.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris smiles as she speaks during a roundtable discussion with faith leaders, Monday, June 6, 2022, in Los Angeles. VP Harris discussed issues including women’s reproductive rights and rising hatred. (AP Photo/Jay C. Hong)
“If the president disagrees with the decision, he can send written notice that he is fit to serve, and he will return to his duties unless the group that removed him objects within four days,” Smith continued. “Congress must then convene within 48 hours and resolve the conflict within 21 days. A two-thirds vote of both houses is required to overturn the assertion that the president is fit to serve.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Harris’ office to ask whether they were aware of Biden’s apparent mental decline and whether the 25th Amendment was discussed, but did not receive a response.
