Biden's Cabinet, VP Harris, unlikely to remove president via 25th Amendment

By 
 July 25, 2024

Following President Joe Biden's decision on Sunday to end his re-election campaign, a number of Republicans argued that he should immediately resign the presidency too, if not be forcibly removed from office via the U.S. Constitution's 25th Amendment.

Yet, a 25th Amendment removal of Biden would require action from Vice President Kamala Harris and a majority of his Cabinet officials, and several of those officials have made it clear that they would not support such an effort to oust Biden from office before his term is complete, Fox News reported.

In fact, some of those officials were insistent that Biden remains perfectly capable of serving out the rest of his term in office and fulfilling his duties as the nation's chief executive.

Removal from office via the 25th Amendment

The 25th Amendment was passed and ratified in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to establish the proper procedures for replacing a president or vice president for various reasons, including death or incapacitation.

It includes Section 4, which authorizes the vice president to assume the role of acting president if they and a majority of the Cabinet inform Congress in writing that the president is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."

If the president disputes that declaration in writing but the VP and Cabinet persist, then it falls upon a two-thirds majority vote of each chamber of Congress to determine if the president should be removed from office and be replaced by the vice president.

If Biden can't run for another term, he should resign or be removed

NBC News reported that after President Biden announced on Sunday that he had dropped his candidacy for a second term, numerous Republicans insisted that he should also immediately resign, using some variation of the argument that if Biden is incapable of running for and serving another term then he is likewise incapable of serving out the remainder of the current term.

Some even went so far as to suggest that Biden should be removed from office via the 25th Amendment, including Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), the GOP vice presidential nominee.

According to the New York Post, Vance told a Fox News host of Democrats and Biden, "If they want to take him down because he’s mentally incapable of serving, invoke the 25th Amendment. You don’t get to sort of do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats," and added, "If it’s an actual problem, they should take care of it the appropriate way."

VP Harris and the Cabinet will not remove Biden

However, per the Fox News report, several of President Biden's Cabinet officials have now reiterated their support for their boss and have made it clear that they would not back a 25th Amendment removal effort.

That includes Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen, a spokesperson for whom said she "disagrees with those calls" for Biden's removal and referenced a prior statement in which she claimed that he was "extremely effective" in his duties.

Similarly, spokespeople for Health and Human Services Sec. Xavier Becerra and Energy Sec. Jennifer Granholm rejected the removal talk, with Granholm's representative also referencing prior remarks in which the secretary described the president as "utterly on his game," the "wisest, most knowledgeable person in the room," and as being "sharp, thoughtful and wise."

Along the same lines, when Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack's office was asked if Biden remained capable of continuing to serve, his spokesperson pointed to a recent interview in which the secretary said, "You're damn right he's capable."

Then, of course, there is VP Harris, whose participation would be key to a 25th Amendment removal, but she has displayed no indications that she would do so and, in fact, praised Biden just this week as being able and ready to continue leading the nation.

" A free people [claim] their rights, as derived from the laws of nature."
Thomas Jefferson