Image by Getty Images

By David Ian Klein January 7, 2021

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat poised to take over as the Senate’s first Jewish Majority Leader, on Thursday called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment in order to remove President Donald Trump from power.

The Constitution’s 25th Amendment provides for the removal of a president because of incompetence, generally based on illness or other extenuating circumstances. It requires approval of half the cabinet or two-thirds of the Senate. It has never actually been invoked to permanently remove a sitting president from office, however it has been invoked voluntarily by presidents to temporarily hand over control to their vice presidents, such as when Ronald Reagan used it before he underwent colon surgery.

Some analysts and activists, and a few elected officials, began openly talking about invoking the 25th on Wednesday night, after a Trump-incited mob stormed the Capitol and disrupted the Congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election as the 46th president. Any use of the amendment is exceedingly rare, but the time it takes to implement it may also be beyond the 13 days Trump has left in office.

This is not the first time the 25th has been raised regarding Trump.

In 2018, an anonymous op-ed was published in the New York Times which pointed out that members of Trump’s own cabinet had discussed the idea, due to the president’s erratic and arbitrary demeanor. In 2020, Miles Taylor, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland security revealed himself to have been the author of the article.

With his Tweet, Schumer joins Several other democratic notables in congress calling for the use of the 25th. They include Senator Patty Murray, the third ranking member of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and all four members of the so-called ‘Squad’ in the House of Representatives.

His call followed his speech on the Senate floor Wednesday night in which Schumer pinned the blame for the unrest firmly on the president.

“Make no mistake, my friends, today’s events did not happen spontaneously.” Schumer said in his opening remarks when the Senate reconvened after the rioters were cleared from the Capitol. “The president, who promoted conspiracy theories and motivated these thugs, the president who exhorted them to come to our nation’s capital, egged them on — he hardly ever discourages violence and more often encourages it — this president bears a great deal of the blame.”

“This mob was in good part President Donald Trump’s doing, incited by his words, his lies.” he added.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount