In some corners, based on Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, questions have arisen about the Democrats possibly removing Biden by the 25th Amendment.

Remember, even before last Thursday’s debate, which exposed the real Joe Biden to the country,  special prosecutor Robert Hur, investigating Biden’s illegal possession of classified documents, raised in his report concerns about Biden’s memory and mental acuity, describing him as having “poor memory” and as a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man.”  Because Attorney General Merrick Garland won’t turn over recordings subpoenaed by Congress between Biden and Hur, we don’t know exactly how bad those conversations really went.  But rumors abound that Hur thinks that Biden may not be competent to stand trial.

Still, there may be enough support from the Dems to remove Biden via the 25th Amendment if they wanted to.  We saw Biden at the debate, and nobody really thinks he’s competent to handle the nuclear football.  In fact, it’s a dangerous proposition.

Can a 25th Amendment removal happen?

Possibly, if the Obama faction and, to a lesser extent, the Clinton faction unite behind it.  With their powerful political influence among Democrats, they could probably organize the political muster to make it happen, but it’s a gamble and a long shot.

What would have to happen to remove Biden by the 25th Amendment?

First, the vice president (Harris)  and a majority of the Cabinet members must send a written declaration to the president pro tempore of the Senate (Democrat Senator Patty Murray from Washington) and the speaker of the House (Mike Johnson) stating that Biden is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.

Upon receipt of the declaration from the Cabinet, the vice president immediately assumes the powers and duties of the office as acting president.

Biden can then send a written declaration to the Senate and House claiming that no inability exists and resume the powers and duties of the office unless Harris and a majority of the Cabinet challenge this claim within four days.  So Harris and the Cabinet can keep him at bay if a majority of the Cabinet holds.

If Harris and a majority of the Cabinet challenge Biden’s declaration — actually, someone would write the declaration for Biden because he isn’t competent to write it himself — Congress must assemble within forty-eight hours to decide the issue if not already in session.  Congress then has twenty-one days to decide by a two-thirds vote of both Houses whether Biden is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.  If Congress determines that Biden is unable to carry out his duties, Harris will continue as acting president.  If not, Biden will resume the powers and duties of the office.

This is a steep climb, but it’s doable.  Here’s how the numbers could theoretically work.

First, let’s look at the House.

As of 2024, there are 213 Democrats in the House of Representatives.  Assuming all 222 Republicans voted on a straight party line to remove Biden, then 68 Democrats (of 213) would have to jump ship and vote for removal.  You’d need a straight Republican vote to remove, plus 68 of 213 Democrats.

Now let’s look at the Senate.  As of 2024, the United States Senate is composed of forty-nine Republicans and fifty-one Democrats, including three independents who caucus with the Democrats.

To achieve a two-thirds majority in the Senate, seventeen Democrat senators would need to join all forty-nine Republicans voting along party lines.  This would make up the required two-thirds majority of sixty-seven votes in the one-hundred-member Senate.

Now let’s look at the Cabinet.

The President’s Cabinet typically includes the vice president and the heads of fifteen executive departments: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans’ Affairs.  Additionally, the Cabinet can include other key officials like the White House chief of staff and the heads of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Management and Budget, the United States trade representative, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, and the Council of Economic Advisers.

In total, this brings the number of Cabinet members to around twenty-five.  Therefore, a majority would be thirteen members.

The bottom line is this.  Assuming a straight-line Republican vote in the Congress, the Obama/Clinton forces would have to convince 13 Cabinet members (out of 25, including Harris), 17 Democrat senators (out of 51), and 68 Democrat congressmen (of 213) to put their country above their party.

Do Obama and his operatives, like David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, and others, have the influence to pull these numbers?  And what if the Clinton people jump on board, also working the phones to help organize support?

Yes, they could possibly make it happen, especially if they convince the Democrats who would participate that it’s the only way to salvage the White House — which is by no means a guarantee, given Trump’s immense, unprecedented popularity with Middle America.

Some congressional Democrats might go along for fear that being tied to Biden’s sinking ship might doom their chances for re-election.

Why might Harris do this?  One, a strong argument can be made that Biden is incompetent and dangerous to the country in his current state.  Two, because  Harris effectively becomes president, at least “acting president,” making her, in effect, the first female president in American history.  This may be an enticing proposition to her and the only way she ever becomes president.

The Democrat party put us in this dangerous position by foisting an incompetent buffoon upon the country,  and only Democrats can fix it.  However, the Obama/Clinton faction, with Obama still the most powerful figure in the party, would have to work behind the scenes to muster enough Democrat support in the Cabinet and Congress to back Harris.

But do enough Democrats love their country enough to make it happen?

Probably not.

Meanwhile, an incompetent Biden carries the nuclear football.

Don Brown, a former U.S. Navy JAG officer, is the author of the book Travesty of Justice: The Shocking Prosecution of Lieutenant Clint Lorance, The Last Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II, and CALL SIGN EXTORTION 17: The Shootdown of SEAL Team Six, and the author of 15 books on the United States military, including three national bestsellers, and is a Publisher’s Weekly National Bestseller.  He is one of four former JAG officers serving on the Lorance legal team.  Lorance was pardoned by President Trump in November 2019.  Brown is also a former military prosecutor, a former Republican congressional candidate, and a former special assistant United States attorney.  He can be reached at donbrownbooks@gmail.com and on Twitter at @donbrownbooks.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.