Donald Trump: How can he be removed?

On November 8^th 2016, Donald Trump was voted into the Whitehouse by the Electoral College.  Defying his critics, and a rather sizeable 2.9 million popular vote to Hillary Clinton, Trump became the 45^th president elect after achieving 304 of the required 538.


(On publication of this post) It has only been a month since Trump’s inauguration and there are already a number of issues that questions Trump’s position as president.  These issues include:

• The ever present allegations regarding Russia
• Trumps lost nomination of Andy Puzder as labour secretary and
• The resignation of National Security Advisor Michael T Flynn. 

Bookmakers have odds as low as 4/1 that Trump will not see out his first term.  With that in mind, it is necessary to consider how an incumbent president can be discharged from his/her duties by virtue of the US constitution.  This blog will consider the four options: death, resignation, impeachment and the 25^th amendment.

Death

Famously quoted by Benjamin Franklin as being the ‘easiest method of removing a president’, this requires little comprehension of the US Constitution.  As last seen by Lyndon B Johnson’s elevation to presidency, a Vice President will assume the office of President should the president die whilst in office.  This is by virtue of Article II section VI.

In the event of this, Mike Pence would become the 46^th President of the United States.

Resignation

Under Article II Section VI, the constitution also allows for an incumbent president to resign should he/she feel that they can no longer executive the office of the presidency.  There is very little precedent for what constitutes grounds for resignation but, as the above issues develop, this may already result in the second resignation of an incumbent president.

The only president to resign whilst in office was Richard Nixon over the 1974 Watergate Scandal.  Like Gerald Ford, this would also see Mike Pence assume the presidency.

Impeachment

Under Article II Section VI, the constitution also allows Congress to begin formal proceedings to impeach the presidency.  Should congress be successful in convicting the president, this will discharge the president of his/her duties also.  Below is the proceedings for impeachment.

Chamber	Process
House of Representatives	Article II states that any member of the House of Representatives can begin proceedings when they believe that the president has committed treason, bribery, high crime or misdemeanours.   They vote and a simple 1 majority needed.
Senate	Article II states that the Senate require a 2/3 majority (67) to convict a president.  This is a formal trial, with the Chief Justice of the supreme court presiding over the proceedings.    The decision of the senate is not subject to any appeal and will bar the president from holding any public office for life.

 

Although none have been convicted by the senate, two incumbent presidents (Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton) have underwent impeachment.  In fact, in the history of the US Constitution, only 19 federal officials have been convicted in an impeachment process.  It is therefore difficult to imagine this being a feasible conclusion for Trump’s presidency.  Not least the fact that Congress is Republican led till at least 2018.  The midterms may however see a profound change to Trump’s control of the senate to the Democrats.

However, with the polls indicating that 46% of people believe he should be impeached, and with the above issues that Trump faces, it cannot be entirely disregarded as a viable method to remove Trump.

25^th Amendment (1963)

The fourth and final method is relatively new to the US Constitution.  It has never been used and would only be considered in extreme circumstances. 

After the JFK assassination, it was discovered that the original constitution didn’t make allowances for presidents who were ill or had been shot.  Most notably, James Garfield was shot in the 19^th century and was unable to execute the office of presidency whilst spending several weeks in intensive care, later succumbing to his wounds.

This method means that if the Vice President, and majority of his cabinet (8), write to congress explaining that the president is not fit to executive the office of presidency, then the Vice President becomes temporary acting president.  If president contests this, as one would expect Trump to do, it will lead to a 2/3 majority decision in both houses.

The issue here, as Simon Byrne of Sky News put it, it is “one for the fairies” and not designed for Trumps administration team to undergo a ‘House of Cards’ plot because of a disagreement over policy issues.  The reality is, however, that we live in uncertain times and any further ‘extremist’ policies may constitute use of the 25^th amendment.

 

Conclusion

So there we have it.  The next four years is going to be interesting in US politics and people can rest easy knowing that they have the above options to keep the president in check.  Then again….maybe not.