, Columnist
What Happens If Trump Is ‘Unable’ to Govern
A crash course in the 25th Amendment, from someone who was in the Justice Department when Reagan was shot.
Get ready for some constitutional ambiguities.
Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
Now that President Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19, the Department of Justice is almost certainly focusing on the 25th Amendment, which provides for the transfer of presidential authority to the vice president.
No one who works for a sitting president wants to think about that amendment. But in any administration, worst-case scenarios get attention, and if the president is sick, the lawyers and the vice president have to be clear on what the 25th Amendment says and requires.