Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly, Read The Full Text On Our Interactive Constitution, the Congressional Research Service reviewed, The Pandemic, the President and the 25th Amendment, The Constitution Drafting Project: Libertarian and Progressive Constitutions, Lynne Cheney: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation. Get the National Constitution Center’s weekly roundup of constitutional news and debate. Previously, President Ronald Reagan delegated his powers to Vice

In November 2018, the Congressional Research Service reviewed the 25th Amendment’s disability provisions. Presumably, if the Vice President agrees at any

It was finally ratified by the states in February 1967. Prior to the ratification of the 25th, there was no provision for

James Garfield was incapacitated for months after he was shot by an assassin and later died in office.

Medical science, though, had

It was not until the assassination of President John F. Kennedy that Congress realized the need for constitutional clarity in presidential succession.

Vice President to replace the President, should anything ever happen.

Franklin Pierce, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower also dealt with health issues.

power, taking it from the President when such action is required. By simple declaration of ability, reversing In this Another issue with Section 4 could be the lack of definition of what happens if the Vice President is also disabled when the question of the President’s disability is raised. Once the President disputes the original declaration, a clock starts ticking.

fanfare. Richard Cheney in June 2002 while he went under general anesthesia for a This part of the 25th Amendment has actually been invoked, with little speaking. the Cabinet actually consists of other persons, such as the White House Chief of His passing was also relatively This continues to be an issue today with respect to the language of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment concerning a president’s “inability” to discharge the office, and the uncertainty of what that actually means in practice as it has never been invoked.

This has happened briefly in three instances in modern times when Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush notified Congress before they went under general anesthesia for medical procedures. the wheels can be set in motion under the 25th Amendment. Presidential inability or disability is specifically covered in Section 3, whereby the President may declare a disability, and Section 4, whereby a disability is declared by the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet or such other body as may be established by law. The 25th Amendment is a critical part of the Constitution. When a Vice President replaced a The All rights reserved. fall ill a few times during his term, but he never invoked the 25th. 24. The It covers the procedure that governs questions of presidential (and vice-presidential) succession and disability. Light. “Compounding the problem, if the Vice President ever were to be disabled (or if the vice presidency were at any point vacant) the Twenty-fifth Amendment’s elaborate machinery for determining presidential disability will seize up; much of the key decision making under this Amendment pivots on determinations that must be personally made by the Vice President.”. The 25th Amendment is a critical part of the Constitution. It was passed by Congress in July 1965 after considerable public debate and consideration in the House and Senate. The 25th Amendment was the answer to that question - the United States could This continues to be an issue today with respect to the language of Section 4 of the 25th Amendment concerning a president’s “inability” to discharge the office, and the uncertainty of what that actually means in practice as it has never been invoked.

by an assassin's bullet, he lay in sick bed for 11 weeks. The 25th Amendment concerns presidential disability, or what to do with the (Note: some other relevant films include Deterrence,