What if Trump Can't Run? Many Steps Are Clear, but Some Are Not

[marmar]

(NYT) WASHINGTON — President Trump’s positive coronavirus test has raised the possibility, however remote, that he could become incapacitated or potentially die in office if his symptoms worsen.

While that outcome remains highly unlikely, and few in Washington were willing to discuss it on Friday, when Mr. Trump was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment, the Constitution and Congress long ago put in place a plan of succession to ensure that the nation is protected from adversaries and internal conflict when the elected president cannot serve.

The Constitution makes clear that the vice president is first in line to succeed the president should he or she die in office, and can step in to temporarily take on the duties of the presidency should the commander in chief become incapacitated. Vice President Mike Pence, 61, tested negative for the coronavirus on Friday.

Other situations become far more complicated and are wrapped in a cloud of legal disagreement over what to do if a president cannot exercise his duties but refuses to give them up, or wins election but cannot serve, or in a case in which the president and the vice president are incapacitated. ............(more)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/us/politics/trump-succession-constitution.html?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Perhaps the side effects will be light enough that he can walk. . . . nt

[Beartracks]

2. We're already NOT "protected from adversaries and internal conflict." Thanks, Republicans! n/t

[beachbumbob]

3. 25th amendment is pretty clear