Brian Kalt retweeted
In legal matters these 3 things are usually distinct:
1) What you're legally entitled to
2) What you deserve
3) What you can get away with
It's interesting to see different personalities—how people vary as to which of these 3 things they want, and which they'll settle for.
I like reading old passages in the Congressional Globe (precursor to the Congressional Record) like this one from 1849. The genteel language makes the utter mayhem seem quaint.
Brian Kalt retweeted
The Constitution doesn't defend itself.
The Rule of Law depends on citizens willing to stand up for constitutional government, individual rights, judicial independence, and limited government—regardless of who holds power.
Join the Society for the Rule of Law and help strengthen the institutions that preserve liberty: societyfortheruleoflaw.org/m…
If true, these “operatives” didn’t read the 25th Amendment Section 4 carefully.
If 25A4 is invoked against Trump he would not be “out of office.” He would be sidelined only provisionally. Vance would still be VP (acting president) and unable to nominate a new VP.
1/3
I had dinner recently with a group of political operatives who for years have been advising politicians and candidates. During dinner they shared with me their thoughts about how Trump might be removed using the 25th Amendment.
I can’t decide whether to be elated or worried. robertreich.substack.com/p/w…
Trump could (and surely would) assert under 25A4 that he’s able to discharge his powers, and unless 2/3 of the House and Senate quickly sided with Vance+Cabinet, Trump would retake power. If he lost that vote he could keep trying. At no point could Vance nominate a new VP.
2/3
Misinformation like this is not helpful to anybody, @RBReich. If you are going to throw around the 25th Amendment take a few minutes to study it first. I’d start with this flowchart I tweeted years ago: xitter.cf/ProfBrianKalt/status/1…
I thought folks might find this 25th Amendment § 4 flowchart useful. It's from my book (amazon.com/Unable-Politics-S…)
I've had a chance to read the bill more carefully. Some critiques:
1. The 25th Amendment allows the creation of a commission like this to replace the Cabinet in the 25A4 process.
2. Less clear: Can Congress give itself a role like the one in the bill? The new commission...
1/5
5. The bill focuses entirely on the initial declaration of presidential inability, but 25A4 has an elaborate procedure for the restoration of power to the president when he says he's OK. The bill should add provisions on the commission's role in that part of the process.
4/5
Some comments on this bill:
1. 25th Amendment §4’s default is that the Cabinet (plus the VP) is who declares presidents incapacitated. BUT 25A4 allows swapping the Cabinet with “such other body as Congress may by law provide.” That's what authorizes bills like this one.
1/4
NEW: Raskin, w/ 50 House Dem co-sponsors, formally introduces a bill which would create a commission to assess Trump's fitness for office under the 25th Amendment.
Bill text here: documentcloud.org/documents/…
Story TK
4. Even with a commission like this, the VP would still need to sign on to any invocation of 25A4. The bill accounts for that, though.
5. An old thread, with more general information on how 25A4 works (with excerpts from my 2019 book on it), is here: xitter.cf/ProfBrianKalt/status/2…
3/4
Brian Kalt retweeted
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was never meant to be used to remove a terrible president from office—but that’s not what the country has learned from Hollywood, @ProfBrianKalt wrote in 2019. theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv…
