Twenty Five

Chris Jones
Sep 6, 2018 · 4 min read

I knew sooner or later, it would come to this. The Trump Presidency has reignited my love for Aaron Sorkin’s political masterpiece, The West Wing.

It’s easily a top five show for me. The characters. The walk ‘n talks. The snappy dialogue. Mrs. Landingham. The music. And Jed 👏 Fucking 👏 Bartlett 👏

What a President. Easily the best fictional president of all time. I don’t care what the FAILING! Wall Street Journal says about it (fake news…WSJ puts him at №2).

“You are relieved, Mr. President”

In the S4 finale, the President’s daughter is kidnapped, throwing the administration into chaos. Bartlett admits to his Chief of Staff that he’s distracted from national security concerns. Bartlett invokes the 25th Amendment on himself, putting Speaker of the House Glen Allen Walken, a Republican, in charge. 😱 (The VP resigned after a sex scandal. How quaint, right?) Walken, a Missouri Republican played by John Goodman, channels former Speaker Newt Gingrich as a folksy, bombastic foil to Bartlett’s New England professorial ways. As the episode concludes, Walken says, “You are relieved, Mr. President.”

Removal, Death, or Resignation

The 25th Amendment was adopted in 1967, and provides some needed clarity on presidential succession, via Section 1. Needed especially given that JFK was killed just a few years before, leaving this very matter in unclear Constitutional water. Here’s what it says:

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

We know what happened after Watergate. Nixon resigned, and Vice President Ford became President. Simple enough, right?

“Unable to Discharge the Powers and Duties of His Office”

But what about Section 4? It’s never been used. It has remained a Constitutional hypothetical for all these years (thank God), reserved for nerdy law school discussions and and little-read law school journals. And the West Wing.

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.

So, in this scenario, it goes like this: 1) Pence and the majority of the cabinet determine that the President is unable to do his job, and tells Senator Hatch and McConnell; 2) Pence becomes Acting President.

But Wait, There’s More

That’s not it. The President can write back, saying that he’s fit to serve, and then resumes his role as POTUS.

Unless…Pence and the majority of the Cabinet get back within 4 days to Hatch and McConnell that no, Trump’s not actually able to do it.

Back and forth, back and forth. After that, it’s up to Congress, who has 21 days to decide the matter by a 2/3 vote.

Trump & the 25th

Thanks to this anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, the 25th Amendment hit its peak, surpassing Kim Kardashian for a brief moment on Google Trends.

Here’s what the “senior official” wrote:

Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.

Given the extreme difficulty of actually pulling off the 25th amendment and rallying Pence, Hatch, McConnell, 1/2 the Cabinet and 2/3 of Congress to agree that the leader of their party was “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” I wonder if perhaps this senior official has watched a little too much of the West Wing.

It’s not gonna happen that way. Change can happen as it usually does in a midterm, and that is less than two months away. The answer isn’t a so-called administrative coup or a shadow government within the West Wing.

GO VOTE 🇺🇸

(and trust in Bobby Three Sticks!)

Chris Jones

Written by

I believe in the power of stories to change the world. Purpose-driven attorney & writer.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade