View source for Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

{{short description|1967 amendment enumerating presidential succession}}
{{Redirect|Twenty-fifth Amendment}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{US Constitution article series}}

The '''Twenty-fifth Amendment''' ('''Amendment XXV''') to the [[United States Constitution]] addresses issues related to presidential succession and disability.

It clarifies that the [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] becomes [[President of the United States|president]] if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office by [[Impeachment in the United States|impeachment]]. It also establishes the procedure for filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president. Additionally, the amendment provides for the temporary transfer of the president's powers and duties to the vice president, either on the president's initiative alone or on the initiative of the vice president together with a majority of the president's [[Cabinet of the United States|cabinet]]. In either case, the vice president becomes the [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]] until the president's powers and duties are restored.

The amendment was submitted to the [[U.S. state|states]] on July 6, 1965, by the [[89th United States Congress|89th Congress]], and was adopted on February 10, 1967, the day the requisite number of states (38) ratified it.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mount|first=Steve|title=Ratification of Constitutional Amendments|url=https://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html|website=ussconstitution.net|access-date=July 20, 2018|archive-date=April 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423013551/https://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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== Text and effect ==
=== Section 1: Presidential succession ===
{{Further|United States presidential line of succession}}
{{quote box|width=90%|fontsize=100%|align=center|'''Section 1'''. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.}}

Section 1 clarifies that in the enumerated situations the vice president becomes president, instead of merely assuming the powers and duties of the presidency as acting president.<ref name="auto1" /> It operates automatically, without needing to be explicitly invoked.{{r|feerick_complete|p=108}}

=== Section 2: Vice presidential vacancy ===
{{Further|Vice President of the United States#Vacancies}}
{{quote box|width=90%|fontsize=100%|align=center|'''Section 2'''. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.}}

Section 2 provides a mechanism for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency. Before the Twenty-fifth Amendment, a vice-presidential vacancy continued until a new vice president took office at the start of the next presidential term; the vice presidency had become vacant several times due to death, resignation, or succession to the presidency, and these vacancies had often lasted several years.<ref name="auto1" />

=== Section 3: President's declaration of inability ===
{{quote box|width=90%|fontsize=100%|align=center|'''Section 3'''. Whenever the President transmits to the [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore of the Senate]] and the [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]] his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.}}

Section 3 allows the president to voluntarily transfer presidential authority to the vice president (for example, in anticipation of a medical procedure) by declaring in writing his inability to discharge the presidency's powers and duties. The vice president then assumes those powers and duties as acting president.{{NoteTag|As acting president, the vice president may employ "all the powers and tools of the office of the president", taking actions such as moving troops, reporting on the [[state of the Union]], proposing budgets, nominating judges, and removing cabinet secretaries.{{r|readers|p=44}}
But it is unclear whether the vice president, while acting president, retains all the powers and duties of the vice presidency; for example, authorities express reservation as to whether the vice president would continue to preside over the Senate, especially since doing so could put him or her in the position of overseeing the Senate's deliberations on the validity of his or her determination, under Section{{nbsp}}4, that the president is unable to discharge his or her duties.{{r|feerick_complete|p=44n155}} Article{{nbsp}}I, Section{{nbsp}}3, clause{{nbsp}}5 of the Constitution provides that, "The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States."{{hsp}}{{r|overview|p=3}}}} The vice president does not ''become'' president; the president remains in office, though without authority. The president regains those powers and duties upon declaring in writing his ability to discharge them.{{r|feerick_complete|p=112-3}}

=== Section 4: Declaration by vice president and cabinet members of president's inability ===
{{quote box|width=90%|fontsize=100%|align=center|'''Section 4'''. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
{{pb}}
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department{{sic}}{{NoteTag|
Here the word ''department'' should read ''departments''. Feerick has written that on the very day the Senate was to vote on the amendment, "<!--I remember being startled again when, at the last moment, -->I noticed a [[scrivener's error]] in the draft of the [[United States congressional conference committee|conference report]]. When I reached [[Birch Bayh|Senator Bayh]]'s staff by telephone, possibly on July 6, with my observation, I was told that the amendment had just been approved that day by the Senate, 68 to 5, and was on its way to the states for ratification. In other words, the amendment was beyond rescue for correction."{{hsp}}{{r|personal|p=1101}} }}<ref>Bayh, Birch and Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee; Committee on the Judiciary. Senate. United States., "Selected Materials on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, Senate Document No. 93-42." (1973). [https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_congressional_materials/17/ Congressional Materials. 17.]</ref>
 or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.}}

Section 4 addresses the case of a president who cannot discharge the powers and duties of the presidency but also cannot, or does not, execute the voluntary declaration contemplated by Section{{nbsp}}3.{{r|feerick_complete|p=117}} It allows the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide",{{NoteTag|No such "other body" has ever been designated,{{r|feerick_complete|p=120}} though there have been proposals.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8548|title=H.R.8548 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of the Office Act|first=Jamie|last=Raskin|date=October 9, 2020|website=www.congress.gov}}</ref> Congress's discretion in designating such a body and how it would deliberate is "vast"{{snd}}it could even designate itself{{r|readers|p=16}}{{snd}}but any designating act would be subject to presidential veto (which in turn can be overridden by two-thirds of both the House and Senate) just like any other statute.{{r|readers|p=14}} Should such a body be created, it would become the ''only'' body capable of acting in concert with the vice president under Section{{nbsp}}4; the fifteen cabinet officers would no longer have a role.{{r|readers|p=14-15}}
However, the vice president's participation is essential, and vacancy in the vice presidency rules out invocation of Section{{nbsp}}4.{{r|feerick_complete|p=121}}
}} to issue a written declaration that the president is unable to discharge his duties. When such a declaration is sent to Congress, the vice president immediately becomes acting president,{{NoteTag|The transfer of power to the vice president occurs at the moment the declaration is ''sent'' to the Speaker and President ''pro tempore'', not at the moment of receipt,{{r|readers|p=39}}{{r|feerick_complete|p=118}} whether or not Congress is in session at the time of transmittal is immaterial.{{r|feerick_complete|p=118}}
}} while (as with Section{{nbsp}}3) the president remains in office, temporarily divested of authority.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/can-the-cabinet-remove-a-president-using-the-25th-amendment|title=Can the Cabinet "remove" a President using the 25th amendment?|last=Bomboy|first=Scott|date=October 12, 2017|website=The Constitution Center|access-date=September 9, 2018|archive-date=January 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108230610/https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/can-the-cabinet-remove-a-president-using-the-25th-amendment|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[John Feerick]], the principal draftsman of the amendment,{{r|feerick_complete|p=xii, xx}}{{r|readers|p=5}}{{refn|{{cite news|title=John D. Feerick named dean of Fordham Law|first=Wolfgang|last= Saxon|date=December 13, 1981|page=61|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/13/nyregion/john-d-feerick-named-dean-of-fordham-law.html}} }} writes that Congress deliberately left the terms ''unable'' and ''inability'' undefined "since cases of inability could take various forms not neatly fitting into <!--such a--> [a rigid] definition{{nbsp}}... The debates surrounding the Twenty-fifth Amendment indicate that <!--the terms ''unable'' and ''inability''-->[those terms] are intended to cover all cases in which some condition or circumstance prevents the President from discharging his powers and duties".{{hsp}}{{r|feerick_complete|p=112}} A survey of scholarship on the amendment found
{{blockquote|<!--There is -->no specific threshold—medical or otherwise—for the "inability" contemplated in Section{{nbsp}}4. The framers specifically rejected any definition of the term, prioritizing flexibility. Those implementing Section{{nbsp}}4 should focus on whether—in an objective sense taking all of the circumstances into account—the President is "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of the office. The amendment does not require that any particular type or amount of evidence be submitted to determine that the President is unable to perform his duties. While the framers did imagine that medical evidence would be helpful to the determination of whether the President is unable, neither medical expertise nor diagnosis is required for a determination of inability{{nbsp}}... To be sure, foremost in [the minds of the framers] was a physical or mental impairment. But the text of Section{{nbsp}}4 sets forth a flexible standard intentionally designed to apply to a wide variety of unforeseen emergencies.{{r|readers|p=7,20}} }}
Among potential examples of such unforeseen emergencies, legal scholars have listed kidnapping of the president and "political emergencies" such as [[Federal impeachment in the United States|impeachment]]. Traits such as unpopularity, incompetence, impeachable conduct, poor judgment, or laziness might not in themselves constitute inability, but should such traits "rise to a level where they prevented the President from carrying out his or her constitutional duties, they still might constitute an inability, even in the absence of a formal medical diagnosis." In addition, a president who already manifested disabling traits at the time he was elected is not thereby immunized from a declaration of inability.{{r|readers|p=21n63,22n67}}

The "principal officers of the executive department[s]" are the 15 [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]] members enumerated in the [[United States Code]] at {{usc|5|101}}:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/olc/opinions/1985/06/31/op-olc-v009-p0065_0.pdf|title=Operation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Respecting Presidential Succession|publisher=United States Department Of Justice}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The 25th Amendment, explained: how a president can be declared unfit to serve|first=Andrew|last=Prokop|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/9/14488980/25th-amendment-trump-pence|work=Vox|access-date=August 9, 2018|date=January 2, 2018|archive-date=June 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606030832/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/9/14488980/25th-amendment-trump-pence|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]]
* [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]]
* [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]
* [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]]
* [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]]
* [[United States Secretary of Agriculture|Secretary of Agriculture]]
* [[United States Secretary of Commerce|Secretary of Commerce]]
* [[United States Secretary of Labor|Secretary of Labor]]
* [[United States Secretary of Health and Human Services|Secretary of Health and Human Services]]
* [[United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development|Secretary of Housing and Urban Development]]
* [[United States Secretary of Transportation|Secretary of Transportation]]
* [[United States Secretary of Energy|Secretary of Energy]]
* [[United States Secretary of Education|Secretary of Education]]
* [[United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs|Secretary of Veterans Affairs]]
* [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security|Secretary of Homeland Security]]
{{div col end}}
Acting secretaries can participate in issuing the declaration.{{r|feerick_complete|p=117-8}}{{r|readers|p=13}}

If the president subsequently issues a declaration claiming to be able, then a four-day period begins during which the vice president remains acting president.{{r|feerick_complete|p=118-9}}<ref name=readers>{{cite book
|url=https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/clinic/document/mn082208_ls_readerguide_interior_final.pdf|title=The Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution: A Reader's Guide|author=Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic
|year=2018}}</ref>{{rp|38n137}} If, by the end of this period, the vice president and a majority of the "principal officers" have not issued a second declaration of the president's inability, the president resumes his powers and duties; but if they do issue a second declaration within the four days, then the vice president remains acting president while Congress considers the matter. Then, if within 21 days the Senate and the House determine, each by a two-thirds vote, that the president is unable, the vice president continues as acting president; otherwise the president resumes his powers and duties.{{NoteTag|If Congress is in session when it receives the second declaration of incapacity, the 21 days begins at that point; otherwise they begin at the end of the 48 hours given for Congress to assemble. The president resumes his powers and duties when either the Senate or the House holds a vote on the question which falls short of the two-thirds requirement, or the 21 days pass without both votes having been taken.{{r|readers|p=52}}<ref>{{Cite book|
title=Constitutional cliffhangers: a legal guide for presidents and their enemies|
last=Kalt|first=Brian C.
|date=2012|publisher=Yale University Press
|isbn=978-0-300-12351-7|location=New Haven, CN|oclc=842262440}}</ref>}}

Section 4's requirement of a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate is stricter than the Constitution's requirement for impeachment and removal of the president for "high crimes and misdemeanors"—a ''majority'' of the House followed by two-thirds of the Senate.{{r|feerick_complete|p=120n}}{{refn|United States Constitution, Article{{nbsp}}I, Section{{nbsp}}3, Clauses 6 and 7.}}{{refn|
{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/us/politics/trump-25th-amendment-anonymous.html
|title=The 25th Amendment: The Difficult Process to Remove a President
|work=The New York Times
|date=September 6, 2018}}
}}<ref>{{cite book
|last=Neale|first=Thomas H.
|title=Presidential Disability Under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Constitutional Provisions and Perspectives for Congress
|date=November 5, 2018
|publisher=Congressional Research Service
|location=Washington, DC
|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45394.pdf
|access-date=November 11, 2018}}</ref> In addition, an impeached president retains his authority unless and until the Senate votes to remove him or her at the end of an [[Federal impeachment trial in the United States|impeachment trial]]; in contrast, should Congress be called upon to decide the question of the president's ability or inability under Section{{nbsp}}4, presidential authority remains in the hands of the vice president (as acting president) unless and until the question is resolved in the president's favor.{{r|feerick_complete|pp=118-20}}

== Historical background ==
[[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 6: Vacancy and disability|Article{{nbsp}}II, Section{{nbsp}}1, Clause{{nbsp}}6]] of the Constitution reads:
{{blockquote|In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President{{nbsp}}...}}

This provision is ambiguous as to whether, in the enumerated circumstances, the vice president becomes the president or merely assumes the "powers and duties" of the presidency. It also fails to define what constitutes ''inability'' or how questions concerning inability are to be resolved.<ref name="A2essayPS">{{cite web|last=Feerick|first=John|title=Essays on Article II: Presidential Succession|work=The Heritage Guide to the Constitution|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/2/essays/83/presidential-succession|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|access-date=June 12, 2018|archive-date=August 22, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200822232208/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/%23!/amendments/8/essays/161/cruel-and-unusual-punishment#!/articles/2/essays/83/presidential-succession|url-status=unfit}}</ref> The Twenty-fifth Amendment addresses these deficiencies.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/amendment-xxv/interps/159|title=Interpretation: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment &#124; The National Constitution Center|website=constitutioncenter.org}}</ref> The ambiguities in Article{{nbsp}}II, Section{{nbsp}}1, Clause{{nbsp}}6 of the Constitution regarding death, resignation, removal, or disability of the president created difficulties several times:

[[File:Tyler Daguerreotype (restoration).jpg|thumb|upright=0.65|Upon the death of [[William Henry Harrison]], [[John Tyler]] (pictured) became the first incumbent vice president to succeed to the presidency.]]
* In 1841, [[William Henry Harrison]] died in office. It had previously been suggested that the vice president would become [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]] upon the president's death,<ref>Chitwood, Oliver. ''John Tyler: Champion of the Old South''. American Political Biography Press, 1990, p. 206</ref> but Vice President [[John Tyler]] asserted that he had succeeded to the presidency, instead of merely assuming its powers and duties; he also declined to acknowledge documents referring to him as "acting president". Although Tyler felt his [[Oath of office of the vice president of the United States|vice presidential oath]] obviated any need for the [[Oath of office of the president of the United States|presidential oath]], he was persuaded that being formally sworn in would resolve any doubts. Accordingly, he took the oath and title of "President", without any qualifiers, moved into the White House, and assumed full presidential powers. Though Tyler was sometimes derided as "His Accidency",<ref>{{cite web|title=John Tyler|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/john-tyler/|website=The White House|publisher=White House Historical Association|access-date=January 22, 2018}}</ref> both houses of Congress adopted a resolution confirming that he was president. The [[Tyler Precedent]] of succession was thus established,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_John_Tyler.htm|title=John Tyler, Tenth Vice President (1841)|publisher=Senate.gov|access-date=April 29, 2009}}</ref> and subsequently Vice Presidents [[Millard Fillmore]] (1850), [[Andrew Johnson]] (1865), [[Chester A. Arthur]] (1881), [[Theodore Roosevelt]] (1901), [[Calvin Coolidge]] (1923), [[Harry S. Truman]] (1945), and [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] (1963) were all deemed to have become president on the death of incumbent presidents.{{r|readers|p=ix}} Section 1 codified this precedent.
* In 1893, [[Grover Cleveland#Cancer|Grover Cleveland secretly had cancer surgery]], after which he was incapacitated for a time and kept from public view.
* Following [[Presidency of Woodrow Wilson#Incapacity, 1919–1921|Woodrow Wilson's stroke in 1919]], no one officially assumed his powers and duties, in part because his wife, [[Edith Wilson]], and the White House physician, [[Cary T. Grayson]], kept his condition secret.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ahsl.arizona.edu/about/exhibits/presidents/wilson|title=Woodrow Wilson – Strokes and Denial|last=Schlimgen|first=Joan|date=January 23, 2012|publisher=Arizona Health Sciences Library|access-date=September 27, 2015|archive-date=July 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703211126/http://ahsl.arizona.edu/about/exhibits/presidents/wilson|url-status=live}}</ref> By the time Wilson's condition became public knowledge, only a few months remained in his term and Congressional leaders were disinclined to press the issue.{{r|feerick_complete|pp=14-16}}
* Up to 1967, the office of vice president had become vacant 16 times when the vice president died, resigned, or succeeded to the presidency.<ref name=NCC25th>{{cite web|title=The Twenty-fifth Amendment|last1=Kalt|first1=Brian C.|last2=Pozen|first2=David|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxv|work=The Interactive Constitution|publisher=The National Constitution Center|location=Philadelphia, PA|access-date=July 20, 2018|archive-date=September 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904214749/https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxv|url-status=live}}</ref> The vacancy created when [[Andrew Johnson]] succeeded to the presidency upon [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s assassination was one of several that encompassed nearly an entire four-year term. In 1868, Johnson [[Impeachment of Andrew Johnson|was impeached]] by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] and came one vote short of being removed from office by the [[United States Senate|Senate]] in [[Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson|his impeachment trial]]. Had Johnson been removed, [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore]] [[Benjamin Wade]] would have become acting president in accordance with the [[Presidential Succession Act of 1792]].<ref name=ARA1995VDA>{{cite journal <!-- Citation bot bypass-->|last=Amar|first=Akhil Reed|last2=Amar|first2=Vikram David|title=Is the Presidential Succession Law Constitutional?|journal=Stanford Law Review R|volume=48|issue=1|date=November 1995|issn=0038-9765|doi=10.2307/1229151|pages=113–139|url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/991/}}</ref>
* After several periods of incapacity due to severe health problems, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] attempted to clarify procedures through a signed agreement with Vice President [[Richard Nixon]], drafted by Attorney General [[Herbert Brownell Jr.]], but this agreement had no legal authority.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/25th|title=25th Constitutional Amendment|website=The Great Society Congress|publisher=Association of Centers for the Study of Congress|access-date=April 6, 2016|archive-date=April 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420010953/http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/25th|url-status=live}}</ref> Eisenhower suffered a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] in September 1955 and intestinal problems requiring emergency surgery in July 1956. Each time, until Eisenhower was able to resume his duties, Nixon presided over Cabinet meetings and, along with Eisenhower aides, kept the executive branch functioning and assured the public the situation was under control. But Nixon refused to use the president's White House office or sit in the president's chair at Cabinet meetings.{{r|feerick_complete|p=22}}
The 1951 novel ''[[The Caine Mutiny]]'' and its [[The Caine Mutiny (1954 film)|1954 film version]] influenced the amendment's drafters. John D. Feerick told ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 2018 that the film was a "live depiction" of the type of crisis that could arise "if a president ever faced questions about physical or mental inabilities but disagreed completely with the judgment", a situation the Constitution did not address. Lawmakers drafting the amendment intentionally omitted any wording that could be exploited by the vice president or other officials to depose the president merely by saying that he was "disabled", as the crew in the novel did to Captain Queeg.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/09/10/how-the-caine-mutiny-and-the-paranoid-capt-queeg-contributed-to-the-debate-over-the-25th-amendment/|title=How 'The Caine Mutiny' and the paranoid Capt. Queeg influenced the 25th Amendment's drafters, making it harder to sideline a president|last=Flynn|first=Meagan|date=10 September 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

== Proposal, enactment, and ratification ==
=== Keating–Kefauver proposal ===

In 1963, Senator [[Kenneth Keating]] of [[New York (state)|New York]] proposed a Constitutional amendment that would have enabled Congress to enact legislation providing for how to determine when a president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency, rather than, as the Twenty-fifth Amendment does, having the Constitution so provide.{{r|bayh|p=345}} This proposal was based upon a recommendation of the [[American Bar Association]] in 1960.{{r|bayh|p=27}}

The text of the proposal read:{{r|bayh|p=350}}
{{blockquote|In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the said office shall devolve on the Vice President. In case of the inability of the President to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the said powers and duties shall devolve on the Vice President, until the inability be removed. The Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then be President, or, in case of inability, act as President, and such officer shall be or act as President accordingly, until a President shall be elected or, in case of inability, until the inability shall be earlier removed. The commencement and termination of any inability shall be determined by such method as Congress shall by law provide.}}

Senators raised concerns that the Congress could either abuse such authority{{r|bayh|p=30}} or neglect to enact any such legislation after the adoption of this proposal.{{r|bayh|p=34–35}} [[Tennessee]] senator [[Estes Kefauver]], the chairman of the [[United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution|Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments]], a longtime advocate for addressing the disability question, spearheaded the effort until he died in August 1963.{{r|bayh|p=28}} Keating was defeated in the 1964 election, but Senator [[Roman Hruska]] of Nebraska took up Keating's cause as a new member of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments.<ref name=":0" />

=== Kennedy assassination ===

By the 1960s, medical advances had made it increasingly plausible that an injured or ill president might live a long time while incapacitated. The [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]] in 1963 underscored the need for a clear procedure for determining presidential disability,<ref name=79999avb>[http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2013/11/how-jfks-assassination-led-to-a-constitutional-amendment/ How JFK's assassination led to a constitutional amendment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106181537/http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2013/11/how-jfks-assassination-led-to-a-constitutional-amendment/ |date=January 6, 2014 }}, National Constitution Center, Accessed January 6, 2013</ref> particularly since the new president, [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], had once suffered a heart attack<ref>[http://hnn.us/article/812 What is the 25th Amendment and When Has It Been Invoked?] History News Network, Accessed January 6, 2013</ref> and—with the office of vice president to remain vacant until the next term began on January 20, 1965—the next two people in the [[United States presidential line of succession#Current order of succession|line of succession]] were the 71-year-old [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House]], [[John W. McCormack|John McCormack]],<ref name=79999avb /> and the 86-year-old [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|Senate president pro tempore]], [[Carl Hayden]].<ref name=79999avb /><ref name=lbjsuccess>[http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/faqs/succession/succession63.asp Presidential Succession During the Johnson Administration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103161758/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/faqs/succession/succession63.asp|date=January 3, 2014}} LBJ Library, Accessed January 6, 2014</ref> Senator [[Birch Bayh]] succeeded Kefauver as chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and set about advocating a detailed amendment dealing with presidential disability.<ref name=79999avb />

=== Bayh–Celler proposal ===

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On January 6, 1965, Senator [[Birch Bayh]] proposed S.J. Res.{{nbsp}}1 in the [[United States Senate|Senate]] and Representative [[Emanuel Celler]] (Chairman of the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]]) proposed H.J. Res.{{nbsp}}1 in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. Their proposal specified the process by which a president could be declared "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office", thereby making the vice president an [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]], and how the president could regain the powers of his office. Their proposal also provided a way to fill a vacancy in the office of vice president before the next presidential election. This was as opposed to the Keating–Kefauver proposal, which provided neither for filling a vacancy in the office of vice president before the next presidential election nor a process for determining presidential disability. In 1964, the [[American Bar Association]] endorsed the type of proposal Bayh and Celler advocated.{{r|bayh|p=348–350}} On January 28, 1965, President Johnson endorsed S.J. Res.{{nbsp}}1 in a statement to Congress.<ref name=":0" /> The proposal received [[Bipartisanship|bipartisan]] support.{{r|overview|p=6}}

On February 19, the Senate passed the amendment, but the House passed a different version of the amendment on April{{nbsp}}13. On April{{nbsp}}22 it was returned to the Senate with revisions.<ref name=":0" /> There were four areas of disagreement between the House and Senate versions:
* the Senate official who was to receive any written declaration under the amendment;
* the period of time during which the vice president and principal officers of the executive departments must decide whether they disagree with the president's declaration that he is fit to resume the duties of the presidency;
* the time before Congress meets to resolve the issue;
* the time limit for Congress to reach a decision.<ref name=":0" />
On July 6, after a [[conference committee]] ironed out differences between the versions,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/files/original/263538cd6a3473f089d4059a445c232c.pdf|title=Presidential Inability and Vacancies in the Office of the Vice President|publisher=The Association of Centers for the Study of Congress}}</ref> the amendment's final version passed both houses of Congress and was presented to the states for ratification.{{NoteTag|On February 19, the Senate passed its version unanimously ({{nowrap|72–0}} with 28 absent on business or illness, but all 28 announced they would have voted "yea").<br/>
On April 13, the House passed its version {{nowrap|368–29}} with 36 not voting (30 of the 36 coming from 15 [[Pair (parliamentary convention)|pair]]s, unofficially {{nowrap|383–44}}).<br/>
On June 30, the House agreed to the conference committee's report by [[unanimous consent]].<br/>
On July 6, the Senate agreed to the report {{nowrap|68–5}} with 27 absent on business (7 announced they would have voted "yea", 8 made no announcement, and 12 formed four {{nowrap|2–1}} [[Pair (parliamentary convention)|pair]]s with two "yea" votes paired to one "nay" vote, unofficially {{nowrap|83–9}}).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB11136|title=The Twenty-Fifth Amendment and Presidential Inability, Part 6: Final Approval and Implementation|website=Congressional Research Service}}</ref>}}{{r|bayh|p=354–358}}

=== Ratification ===

Nebraska was the first state to ratify the amendment, on July{{nbsp}}12, 1965, and [[Article Five of the United States Constitution#Ratification of amendments|ratification became complete]] when Nevada became the 38th state to ratify it, on February{{nbsp}}10, 1967.{{NoteTag|The states ratified as follows:<ref name=CUSA:AA>{{cite web|title=Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation|date=August 26, 2017|url=https://www.congress.gov/content/conan/pdf/GPO-CONAN-2017.pdf|publisher=United States Government Printing Office, Library of Congress|location=Washington, DC|pages=3–44|access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
# Nebraska (July 12, 1965)
# Wisconsin (July 13, 1965)
# Oklahoma (July 16, 1965)
# Massachusetts (August 9, 1965)
# Pennsylvania (August 18, 1965)
# Kentucky (September 15, 1965)
# Arizona (September 22, 1965)
# Michigan (October 5, 1965)
# Indiana (October 20, 1965)
# California (October 21, 1965)
# Arkansas (November 4, 1965)
# New Jersey (November 29, 1965)
# Delaware (December 7, 1965)
# Utah (January 17, 1966)
# West Virginia (January 20, 1966)
# Maine (January 24, 1966)
# Rhode Island (January 28, 1966)
# Colorado (February 3, 1966)
# New Mexico (February 3, 1966)
# Kansas (February 8, 1966)
# Vermont (February 10, 1966)
# Alaska (February 18, 1966)
# Idaho (March 2, 1966)
# Hawaii (March 3, 1966)
# Virginia (March 8, 1966)
# Mississippi (March 10, 1966)
# New York (March 14, 1966)
# Maryland (March 23, 1966)
# Missouri (March 30, 1966)
# New Hampshire (June 13, 1966)
# Louisiana (July 5, 1966)
# Tennessee (January 12, 1967)
# Wyoming (January 25, 1967)
# Washington (January 26, 1967)
# Iowa (January 26, 1967)
# Oregon (February 2, 1967)
# Minnesota (February 10, 1967)
# Nevada (February 10, 1967, at which point ratification was complete)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chadwick|first=John|date=February 11, 1967|title=With Ratification of Amendment Two Gaps In Constitution Plugged|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19670211&id=ovwrAAAAIBAJ&pg=652,1429220&hl=en|work=The Florence Times|access-date=July 20, 2018|via=Google news|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194607/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19670211&id=ovwrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=38YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=652%2C1429220&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>
# Connecticut (February 14, 1967)
# Montana (February 15, 1967)
# South Dakota (March 6, 1967)
# Ohio (March 7, 1967)
# Alabama (March 14, 1967)
# North Carolina (March 22, 1967)
# Illinois (March 22, 1967)
# Texas (April 25, 1967)
# Florida (May 25, 1967)

The following states have not ratified:
# Georgia
# North Dakota
# South Carolina
{{div col end}}
}}

When President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] underwent planned surgery in 1965, he was unable to temporarily transfer power to Vice President [[Hubert H. Humphrey]] because the amendment's ratification remained incomplete. On February{{nbsp}}23, 1967, at the [[White House]] ceremony certifying the ratification, Johnson said:
{{blockquote|It was 180 years ago, in the closing days of the Constitutional Convention, that the Founding Fathers debated the question of Presidential disability. John Dickinson of Delaware asked this question: "What is the extent of the term 'disability' and who is to be the judge of it?" No one replied. It is hard to believe that until last week our Constitution provided no clear answer. Now, at last, the 25th amendment clarifies the crucial clause that provides for succession to the Presidency and for filling a Vice Presidential vacancy.<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Lyndon B.|title=Remarks at Ceremony Marking the Ratification of the Presidential Inability (25th) Amendment to the Constitution|date=February 23, 1967|others=Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-ceremony-marking-the-ratification-the-presidential-inability-25th-amendment-the|publisher=The American Presidency Project|location=Santa Barbara, CA|access-date=June 20, 2018}}</ref>}}

== Invocations ==
=== Sections 1 and 2: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller ===
{{Further|1973 United States vice presidential confirmation|1974 United States vice presidential confirmation}}

On October 10, 1973, Vice President [[Spiro Agnew]] resigned, following a controversy over his personal taxes; two days later, President [[Richard Nixon]] nominated Representative [[Gerald Ford]] to replace Agnew as vice president pursuant to Section{{nbsp}}2. Ford was confirmed by the Senate and the House on November{{nbsp}}27 and December{{nbsp}}6, respectively, and sworn in on December{{nbsp}}6.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hunter|first=Marjorie|date=December 7, 1973|title=Ford Sworn In As Vice President After House Approves, 387-85; He Vows Equal Justice For All|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/12/07/archives/ford-sworn-as-vice-president-after-house-approves-38735-he-vows.html|access-date=January 11, 2021|website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

On August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned due to the [[Watergate scandal]] and Ford became president under Section{{nbsp}}1, the only president never to have been elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency.<ref>{{cite book|title=Memorial Services in the Congress of the United States and Tributes in Eulogy of Gerald R. Ford, Late a President of the United States|year=2007|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=978-0-16-079762-0|page=35|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tfxUriBb0MC&pg=PA35}}</ref> The office of vice president was thus again vacant, and on August{{nbsp}}20 Ford nominated former New York governor [[Nelson Rockefeller]].{{r|feerick_complete|pp=167-169}} Rockefeller was confirmed by the Senate and the House on December 10 and 19, respectively, and sworn in on December 19.{{r|feerick_complete|pp=186-187}}

Feerick writes that the Twenty-fifth Amendment helped pave the way for Nixon's resignation during the [[Watergate scandal]]. Nixon and Agnew were Republicans, and in the months immediately following Agnew's resignation, with the vice presidency empty, Nixon's removal or resignation would have transferred the presidential powers to House Speaker [[Carl Albert]], a Democrat. But once Ford, a Republican, became vice president under Section 2, Nixon's removal became more palatable because it would not change the party holding the presidency, and therefore "the momentum for exposing the truth about Nixon's involvement in Watergate increased".{{hsp}}{{r|feerick_complete|p=158}}

=== Section 3 ===
{{Further|Acting president of the United States}}

On December 22, 1978, President [[Jimmy Carter]] considered invoking Section{{nbsp}}3 in advance of [[hemorrhoid]] surgery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=twentyfifth_amendment_executive_materials|title=Documents from Carter's Contemplated Use of Section{{nbsp}}3 (1978)|last=Lipshutz|first=Robert J.|publisher=[[Fordham Law School]]|date=December 22, 1978|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref> Since then, presidents [[Ronald Reagan]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Bill Clinton]], [[Barack Obama]], and [[Donald Trump]] also contemplated invoking Section{{nbsp}}3 at various times without doing so.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol86/iss3/3|title=Fifty Years After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Recommendations for Improving the Presidential Succession System|author=Second Fordham University School of Law Clinic on Presidential Succession|journal=Fordham Law Review|page=927|publisher=Fordham Law School|date=December 1, 2017|volume=86|issue=3|access-date=August 3, 2018}}</ref>

==== 1985: Ronald Reagan - George H. W. Bush as acting president====

On July 12, 1985, President [[Ronald Reagan]] underwent a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He elected to have the lesion removed immediately,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/18/us/report-that-early-test-was-urged-stirs-debate-on-reagan-treatment.html?pagewanted=all|title=Report that Early Test was Urged Stirs Debate on Reagan Treatment|last=Altman|first=Lawrence|date=July 18, 1985|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref> and consulted with White House counsel [[Fred F. Fielding|Fred Fielding]] about whether to invoke Section{{nbsp}}3, and in particular about whether doing so would set an undesirable precedent. Fielding and [[White House Chief of Staff]] [[Donald Regan]] recommended that Reagan transfer power, and two letters were drafted: one specifically invoking Section{{nbsp}}3, the other mentioning only that Reagan was mindful of its provisions. On July 13, Reagan signed the letter mentioning that he was mindful of Section 3<ref name="amendment25.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.amendment25.com/invocations.html|title= Historical Invocations of the 25th Amendment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707130813/http://www.amendment25.com/invocations.html|archive-date=July 7, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> before being placed under [[general anesthesia]] for a [[colectomy]],<ref name="Sorensen">{{cite journal|last=Sorensen|first=Robert H.|date=July 2014|title=President Reagan's Life Saving Colectomy and Subsequent Historical Implications|journal=[[Military Medicine]]|volume=179|issue=7|pages=704–7|doi=10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00034|pmid=25003852|doi-access=free}}</ref> and Vice President [[George H. W. Bush]] was acting president from 11:28&nbsp;a.m. until 7:22&nbsp;pm, when Reagan transmitted a letter declaring himself able to resume his duties.<ref>{{Cite web|title=List of Vice-Presidents Who Served as "Acting" President Under the 25th Amendment|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/list-vice-presidents-who-served-acting-president-under-the-25th-amendment|access-date=2021-01-08|website=The American Presidency Project}}</ref>

In the ''[[Fordham Law Review]]'', commentator John Feerick asserted that although Reagan disclaimed any use of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in his letter (likely out of "fear of the reaction of the country and the world to a 'President' who admitted to being disabled, and concern ... [over] set[ting] a harmful precedent"), he followed the process set forth in Section{{nbsp}}3. Furthermore, Feerick noted that "no constitutional provision except the Twenty-Fifth Amendment would have allowed" him to designate the vice president as acting president. Reagan later wrote in a memoir that he had, in fact, invoked the Twenty-fifth Amendment.<ref name="Feerick">{{cite journal|first=John D.|year=2010|title=Presidential Succession and Inability: Before and After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4695&context=flr|volume=79|issue=3|pages=89–90|journal=[[Fordham Law Review]]|last=Feerick|access-date=October 2, 2020|archive-date=October 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011081029/https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4695&context=flr|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2002 and 2007: George W. Bush - Dick Cheney as acting president ====
On June 29, 2002, President [[George W. Bush]] explicitly invoked Section{{nbsp}}3 in temporarily transferring his powers to Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] before undergoing a colonoscopy, which began at 7:09&nbsp;am. Bush awoke about forty minutes later, but refrained from resuming his presidential powers until 9:24&nbsp;a.m. to ensure that no aftereffects remained.<ref name="amendment25.com" /><ref name=Allen>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/06/30/bush-resumes-power-after-test/52faf48d-cb3b-467a-b988-611b85929e7e|title=Bush Resumes Power After Test|last=Allen|first=Mike|author-link=Michael Allen (journalist)|date=June 30, 2002|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=October 2, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194456/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/06/30/bush-resumes-power-after-test/52faf48d-cb3b-467a-b988-611b85929e7e/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to his staff, Cheney (as acting president) held his regular national security and homeland security meetings with aides at the White House, but made no appearances and took no recorded actions while acting president.<ref name=Allen />

On July 21, 2007, Bush invoked Section{{nbsp}}3 before another colonoscopy. Cheney was acting president from 7:16&nbsp;a.m. until 9:21&nbsp;am.<ref name="amendment25.com" /> During that time, Cheney remained at home.<ref name=Gustafson /> Neither invocation received much attention in the press.<ref name=Gustafson />

In the view of commentator Adam Gustafson, George W. Bush's unambiguous application of Section{{nbsp}}3 "rectified" President Reagan's "ambivalent invocation" and provided an example of a "smooth and temporary transition" under Section{{nbsp}}3 that paved the way for future applications. The two invocations established the reasonableness of invocation for relatively minor inabilities, promoting continuity in the [[Federal government of the United States#Executive branch|Executive Branch]].<ref name=Gustafson>{{cite journal|url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1578&context=ylpr|title=Presidential Inability and Subjective Meaning|last=Gustafson|first=Adam R.F.|journal=[[Yale Law & Policy Review]]|volume=27|issue=2|pages=487–490|date=Spring 2009|access-date=October 2, 2020}}</ref>

==== 2021: Joe Biden - Kamala Harris as acting president ====
On November 19, 2021, President [[Joe Biden]] temporarily transferred his powers and duties to Vice President [[Kamala Harris]] before undergoing a colonoscopy, making her acting president from 10:10&nbsp;a.m. until 11:35&nbsp;a.m. This is the first time a woman held the [[Powers of the president of the United States|powers and duties of the president of the United States]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Biden|first=Joseph|date=November 19, 2021|title=Letter to the Speaker of the House on the Temporary Transfer of the Powers and Duties of President of the United States|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Letter-to-the-Speaker-of-the-House-on-the-Temporary-Transfer-of-the-Powers-and-Duties-of-President-of-the-United-States-11.19.21.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119172540/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Letter-to-the-Speaker-of-the-House-on-the-Temporary-Transfer-of-the-Powers-and-Duties-of-President-of-the-United-States-11.19.21.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 19, 2021|access-date=November 19, 2021|website=The White House}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Biden|first=Joseph|date=November 19, 2021|title=Letter to Senator Leahy on Resuming the Powers and Duties of President of the United States|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Letter-to-Senator-Leahy-on-Resuming-the-Powers-and-Duties-of-President-of-the-United-States-11.19.21.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119172908/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Letter-to-Senator-Leahy-on-Resuming-the-Powers-and-Duties-of-President-of-the-United-States-11.19.21.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 19, 2021|access-date=November 19, 2021|website=The White House}}</ref>

=== Section 4 ===

Section 4 has never been invoked.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shanton |first=Karen L. |date=February 2, 2024 |title=The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Sections 3 and 4—Presidential Disability |url=https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF11756 |access-date=October 7, 2025 |website=[[Congress.gov]] |quote="To date, Section 4 has not been implemented."}}</ref>

== Considered invocations of Section&nbsp;4 ==

=== 1981: Reagan assassination attempt ===
{{See also|Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan}}
[[File:25th Amendment draft letters for Reagan or Cabinet after March 1981 assassination attempt.pdf|thumb|bottom|page=2|Draft Section{{nbsp}}3 letter prepared (though never signed) after [[Ronald Reagan]] was shot on March{{nbsp}}30, 1981]]
[[File:25th Amendment draft letters for Reagan or Cabinet after March 1981 assassination attempt.pdf|thumb|page=3|Draft Section{{nbsp}}4 letter prepared (though never signed) after [[Ronald Reagan]] was shot on March{{nbsp}}30, 1981]]

Following the [[attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan]] on March{{nbsp}}30, 1981, Vice President [[George H. W. Bush]] did not assume the presidential powers and duties as [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]]. Reagan had been rushed into surgery with no opportunity to invoke Section{{nbsp}}3; Bush did not invoke Section{{nbsp}}4 because he was on a plane at the time of the shooting, and Reagan was out of surgery by the time Bush landed in Washington.<ref name="king010330">Baker, James (speaker)."[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/30/lkl.00.html Remembering the Assassination Attempt on Ronald Reagan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711055734/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0103/30/lkl.00.html |date=July 11, 2018 }}". ''Larry King Live'', March 30, 2001.</ref> In 1995, [[Birch Bayh]], the primary sponsor of the amendment in the Senate, wrote that Section{{nbsp}}4 should have been invoked.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE4DB1631F93BA35757C0A963958260|title=The White House Safety Net|last=Bayh|first=Birch|author-link=Birch Bayh|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 8, 1995|access-date=September 17, 2017|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194541/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/08/opinion/the-white-house-safety-net.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Physician to the President]] [[Daniel Ruge]], who supervised Reagan's treatment immediately after the shooting, said he had erred by not having Reagan invoke Section{{nbsp}}3 because Reagan needed general anesthesia and was in an [[intensive care unit]].<ref name="altman20050906">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/politics/06ruge.html|title=Daniel Ruge, 88, Dies; Cared for Reagan After Shooting|access-date=March 11, 2011|author=Altman, Lawrence K.|date=September 6, 2005|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== 2021: Trump and the Capitol attack ===
{{See also|Second impeachment of Donald Trump}}

After the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack]], President Donald Trump was accused of having incited the incident,<ref name="Lieu25">{{cite news |last=Ting |first=Eric |date=January 6, 2021 |title=After Trump supporters storm Capitol, Rep. Ted Lieu calls for Trump's immediate removal from office |url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Capitol-Trump-supporters-Ted-Lieu-Congress-impeach-15850750.php |work=[[SFGATE]] |access-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-date=January 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106230033/https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Capitol-Trump-supporters-Ted-Lieu-Congress-impeach-15850750.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Kevin Stankiewicz |title=Ex-Defense secretary: Trump's Cabinet should invoke 25th Amendment to remove him from office |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/ex-defense-secretary-trumps-cabinet-should-invoke-25th-amendment-to-remove-him-from-office-.html |website=[[CNBC]] |access-date=6 January 2021 |date=6 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Rachel Tillman |title=Lawmakers, Business Execs Urge Pence to Invoke 25th Amendment |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2021/01/06/lieu-ilhan-pressley-pence-trump-amendment |website=Spectrum Local News |access-date=6 January 2021 |date=6 January 2021}}</ref> and by evening some of his Cabinet members were reportedly considering trying to get Vice President [[Mike Pence]] to agree to invoke Section{{nbsp}}4.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Acosta |first1=Jim |date=January 6, 2021|title=Some Cabinet members holding preliminary talks about invoking 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office|language=en|work=CNN|url=https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/congress-electoral-college-vote-count-2021#h_262771c1d1953f893d18ce60df16d178|access-date=January 6, 2021}}</ref> According to multiple sources, House Speaker [[Nancy Pelosi]] was reluctant to impeach Trump a second time and, as an alternative disciplinary measure, asked Pence to agree to invoke the 25th Amendment in early 2021. Pence refused.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-01-13 |title=Read Pence's Letter to Pelosi |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/13/us/pence-letter-to-pelosi.html |access-date=2025-05-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-01-13 |title=READ: Mike Pence's letter to Nancy Pelosi saying he won't invoke 25th Amendment {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/12/politics/pence-letter |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Acting President of the United States]]

== Notes ==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
{{Reflist
|refs =
{{refn|name=bayh|{{cite book |title=One Heartbeat Away |last=Bayh |first=Birch |author-link=Birch Bayh |year=1968 |isbn=978-0-672-51160-8}} }}
{{refn|name=feerick_complete|{{Cite book|title=The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Applications|last=Feerick|first=John D.|publisher=Fordham University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-8232-5201-5}} }}
{{refn|name=personal|{{cite news|volume=86|number=3|year=2017|title=The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: A Personal Remembrance|first=John D.|last= Feerick|work=Fordham Law Review|pages=1075–1110}} }}
{{refn|name=overview|{{cite web|url=https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/19990712_RS20260_f720b9ad8756a605627255433b953af20f4ce885.pdf|title=Presidential Disability: An Overview|date=July 12, 1999|publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]]|page=6|access-date=January 27, 2017}} }}
}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* ''[[s:Constitution of the United States of America|Constitution of the United States of America]]''
* {{cite book |title=One Heartbeat Away |last=Bayh |first=Birch |author-link=Birch Bayh |year=1968 |isbn=978-0-672-51160-8}}
* {{cite journal|title=Presidential Inability and the Twenty-Fifth Amendment's Unexplored Removal Provisions.|last=Gant |first = Scott |journal=[[Michigan State Law Review]] |year=1999 |page=791}}
* {{cite book|url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/browse.html|title=The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation|last1=Kilman|first1=Johnny|last2=Costello|first2=George|year=2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211012558/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/browse.html|archive-date=December 11, 2008}}
* {{cite web |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0206/29/bn.02.html |website=CNN |title=Transcript of White House press briefing re G.W. Bush temporary transfer of power to VP Cheney |date=June 29, 2002 |access-date=June 4, 2006 |archive-date=October 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006032811/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0206/29/bn.02.html |url-status=live }}
* [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/21/bush.colonoscopy/index.html CNN Story of White House statement regarding G.W. Bush temporary transfer of power to VP Cheney] July 21, 2007.
* [https://ssrn.com/abstract=1312846 ''Presidential Inability and Subjective Meaning''] by Adam R.F. Gustafson, Yale Law & Policy Review, Vol. 27 (2009), p.&nbsp;459.
* [http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4695&context=flr ''Presidential Succession and Inability: Before and After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820001749/http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4695&context=flr |date=August 20, 2015 }} by John Feerick, [[Fordham Law Review]], Vol. 79 (2011), p.&nbsp;908.
* [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823252019 ''The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Applications, Third Edition''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114194554/https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823252019 |date=January 14, 2021 }} by [[John Feerick]] (Fordham University Press, 2013).
* [http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/25th 25th Constitutional Amendment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420010953/http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/25th |date=April 20, 2016 }} The Great Society Congress, Association of Centers for the Study of Congress (URL accessed April 6, 2016).
* [http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_archive/ Twenty-Fifth Amendment Archive] Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History (URL accessed February 22, 2017).
{{refend}}

== External links ==

{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt25_user.html#amdt25_hd1 CRS Annotated Constitution: Twenty-fifth Amendment]
* [http://acsc.lib.udel.edu/exhibits/show/legislation/25th The Great Society Congress]
* [http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/twentyfifth_amendment_archive/ Twenty-Fifth Amendment Archive]
* [https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/r/r45394 Presidential Disability Under the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Constitutional Provisions and Perspectives for Congress]{{snd}}[[Congressional Research Service]]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:25}}
[[Category:Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution| ]]
[[Category:1967 in American law]]
[[Category:Amendments to the United States Constitution|25]]
[[Category:United States presidential succession]]
[[Category:Vice presidency of the United States]]
[[Category:1967 in American politics]]