PHOENIX - Amid reports that Deputy attorney General Rod Rosenstein may have suggested invoking the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, many are wondering exactly what the 25th Amendment does.
Put simply, the 25th Amendment allows the vice president to take over the presidency if the president is unable to fulfill his duties.
It was drafted after the assassination of president John F. Kennedy when it came to light that, had Kennedy lived but not regained consciousness, there would be no one legally able to discharge his duties until his term ran out.
That provision of the 25th Amendment has been used since, notably when presidents are under anesthesia or other medical procedures. But that has always been temporary.
But another provision of the 25th Amendment allows Congress to remove the president from office and replace him with the vice president.
But ASU presidential historian Brooks Simpson says the Constitution never defines what "unable to carry out his duties" really means. It could mean that the president is in a coma, but could also technically mean the president is acting against the United States, or is put in a position that would compromise his judgment.
This was used most notably in an episode of The West Wing, when the president's daughter is kidnapped and he must remove himself from office rather than give in the kidnapper's demands.
For Congress to remove the president, it would have to rely on testimony from either the Cabinet, or an assembled body they see fit. Again, that's not well defined, and could mean a group of psychiatrists that diagnose or offer their opinions of the president's mental state.
Then, a two-thirds vote of Congress would be required to remove the president from office.
But, there's a catch: in this case the vice president becomes "acting president", not president. Adn the first president can challenge the "acting president" as well, leading to what experts consider a doomsday Constitutional crisis.
"You could say that invoking the amendment is a last gasp effort," Simpson said. "It's taken as a desperate step and we're not sure exactly how it would work if it did happen and if the process would be recognized as legitimate."
The 25th Amendment has never actually be used in this way, and few have ever even spoken about publicly until now.