Colonoscopies & the 25th Amendment

It may be hard for you to believe but the last time the highly discussed Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution was invoked was Saturday, July 21, 2007 when President George W.  Bush voluntarily transferred power to Vice President Richard D. Cheney when the President went through the very light general anesthesia all of us males over fifty have endured for a colonoscopy.

Mr. Cheney was the Acting President for the two hours or so until the sedative wore off and the President was enjoying his cookies and juice.  (At least that is what they served me.)  There is no word on what governmental precautions were taken the night before which I found to be the most problematic.

“Only twice since the amendment was ratified in 1967 has a president done so: in 1985, when Ronald Reagan underwent a colonoscopy and Vice President George H.W. Bush briefly took over, and in 2002" when President Bush had his first colonoscopy.1 (What’s with those two anyway?)

There is a lot being said about invoking this amendment involuntary on our current President because of his mental state.  But before we want to throw ourselves into a constitutional crisis of that magnitude we might want to take a deep breath and read what the pertinent Amendment really says.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

 In explaining the Amendment Professors Brian C. Kalt and David Pozen would write:

The initial deciding group is the Vice President and a majority of either the Cabinet or some other body that Congress may designate (though Congress has never done so). If this group declares a President “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” the Vice President immediately becomes Acting President. If and when the President pronounces himself able, the deciding group has four days to disagree. If it does not, the President retakes his powers. But if it does, the Vice President keeps control while Congress quickly meets and makes a decision. The voting rule in these contested cases favors the President; the Vice President continues acting as President only if two-thirds majorities of both chambers agree that the President is unable to serve. 2

 I cannot imagine what kind of a constitutional crises this would plunge the nation into.

Does anybody think that this cabinet of toadies would declare the President disabled?

Does anybody believe the congress could agree on “some other” yet unformed body to judge the man’s fitness in a bi-partisan fashion?

Does anybody believe that this President, or any President, after being removed wouldn’t be back in two days declaring himself or herself a “stable genius?"

Does anybody really believe that a two-thirds majority of both houses would declare a President emotionally unfit?

And, most important of all, does anybody really believe that this wouldn’t take forever?

What will work is what I have been advocating since the day after the election. 

All those who, before the inauguration, were hoping that the Electoral College would go rogue and refuse to ratify the election were wasting energy.  All those who are hoping to be bailed out by an un-enforceable amendment are suffering from the same “Trump-Derangement Syndrome.”

All those hoping that the President would go quietly into the 25th Amendment night are also delusional.

As Conservative columnist George F.  Will  said, “Mr. Trump,  is an open book who has been reading himself to the country for 30 years.  (These recent revelations about him are) not news.  Now, this excites a lot of people and a lot of chatter about the 25th Amendment and all the rest, but the behaviors and attitudes and the persona that have people talking about him being unfit for the presidency are the behaviors, attitudes, and persona that got about 63 million people to put him in the presidency.”3

There is a short answer to this problem: Back opposition candidates of any party who will actively work to roll back any outlandish notion the President may put forth.

The chances have rarely been better. 

Democrats have to pick up 23 seats to take control of the house.  Thirty-two Republicans have announced that they will not seek reelection.  Democrats have 13 open seats.  With an unpopular President retaking the house is a distinct possibility.

Richard A.  Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, wrote the prescription for the President’s opponents: “I think they’d be better served to give it all up and just oppose him  the way you oppose any president of an opposing party. You try to stymie his agenda ... in Congress to the extent you can, and then you try to beat him in the midterms and beat him for re-election.”4

To paraphrase Senator Mitch McConnell: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for (this) President ... to be a one-term president.”5

Making this our single minded goal and following Mr.  Lowry’s advice we won’t need to endure the impeachment process or invoke the 25th Amendment and the lengthy national colonoscopy these options would entail.
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1.  Baker, Peter. "Bush Will Temporarily Hand Reins To Cheney." The Washington Post, July 21, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2018. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR2007072001790.html. 

2.  Kalt, Brian C., and David Pozen. "The 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution." National Constitution Center – The 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Accessed January 08, 2018. https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxv

3.  "Panel Discussion." Meet the Press Daily, January 4, 2018. Accessed January 14, 2018. http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/mtp-daily/2018-01-04.

4.  "Panel Discussion." Meet the Press Daily, January 8, 2018. Accessed January 13 , 2018. http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/mtp-daily/2018-01-08.

5.  "Top GOP Priority: Make Obama a One-Term President." The National Journal, October 23, 2010.
https://www.nationaljournal.com/member/magazine/top-gop-priority-make-obama-a-one-term-president-20101023