Question on invoking the 25th Amendment

[Generic Brad]

Let suppose Trump is removed from office because he is deemed insane. Could that set up a possible defense for his many crimes by allowing him to plead guilty by reason of insanity?

[Recursion]

1. The two questions are largely unrelated

Legal "insanity" can take two forms: being unable to assist in your own defense during the trial, and being unable to distinguish between right and wrong when committing the act. Neither are particularly closely related to ability to discharge the duties of President.

(Note that, in practice, lying to cover up your act is almost prohibitively an argument against a criminal insanity plea)

[drray23]

2. He wont be removed via the 25th

It requires 2/3 of both house and Senate to make it happen after the initial vote by members of the cabinet.
It would be easier to impeach and convict which only requires majority in the house and 2/3 in the senate.

[onenote]

4. +1

I've lost track of the number of times I've pointed this out.

[NightWatcher]

3. Here's my question. Can the President defend himself from the 25th?

What if he refuses to leave?

What happens when he says "I'm not leaving" or "this is not legal"?

What happens when he mobilizes his base? A coup within the Republican Party?

[dameatball]

5. If he is removed via the 25th Amendment ( which is unlikley as of 9:47 EST on 9/5)

I doubt his base will have anything to do with it.

I do not believe that this Republican party will alienate half(?) their base over this issue prior to 2020. I just do not see how they could avoid losing the house senate and presidency if they split that vote.

If anything, they will leave it until after 2018 and blame whatever happens on Democrats. Trump was a surprise gift, partly from Putin. They won't interfere as long as they can keep the deplorables.


They will allow his departure from the WH as long as they can blame it on Dems.