Donald Trump’s strategy for blocking the 25th Amendment has been in plain sight all along
Up until recently, the 25th Amendment has held so little practical relevance in real-world American politics that it’s been best known for the role it played in a fictional plotline on the television show The West Wing. One of the people involved in creating that plotline was a story editor named Lawrence O’Donnell. So it’s not a surprise that O’Donnell is now the leading voice for using the 25th Amendment to take down Donald Trump. Unfortunately, Trump may have already stacked the deck to insulate himself from the amendment.
Lawrence O’Donnell is correct when he points out that vice president Mike Pence is a liability for Donald Trump, because Pence is considered more rational and stable by the public and by politicians of both parties. Regardless of Pence’s disturbing conservative extremism on social issues, he’s unlikely to get us all nuked, and he may end up becoming preferable for that reason alone. And so if Mike Pence could convince the majority of the cabinet to support him in invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from power, there’s a chance that the necessary two-thirds of the House and Senate would go along with it. But Pence isn’t currently going to get the majority of the cabinet.
And here’s where I think Donald Trump purposely stacked the deck. He picked a couple of reasonable and respected people for his cabinet, such as James Mattis and John Kelly. But most of Trump’s cabinet picks were personal friends of his. Moreover, most of them are people from the private sector who have no political futures to worry about. So even if the American public were demanding that the 25th Amendment be invoked, the majority of Trump’s cabinet would loyally stand by him with nothing to lose professionally. There is perhaps only one trap door.
How many of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, most of whom are financially corrupt, and almost none of whom are suited for their jobs, will still be on the job in six months? If investigative journalists dig up enough dirt to begin forcing out the corrupt cabinet members who are personally loyal to Trump, will he have the political muscle to replace them with more friends, or will he feel pressured to replace them with legitimate respected people in order to keep his approval rating from sinking any lower?
Trump’s decision to replace the personally loyal Mike Flynn with the respected H.R. McMaster this week suggests that he’s already feeling the pressure to replace his own friends with respected outsiders as they depart. Then again, National Security Adviser doesn’t get a vote in the 25th Amendment anyway. Keep an eye on what Trump does with his cabinet positions as they presumably begin swiftly becoming vacant amid scandal.
If Donald Trump forced to add perhaps three outsiders who aren’t loyal to him and are instead concerned about their own future political viability, it may give Mike Pence the eight votes he needs to enact the 25th Amendment. If that’s the case, we’re all going to end up being glad that Lawrence O’Donnell just happened to work on the television show that put the amendment in the public consciousness before he went on to become a political journalist. Contribute to Palmer Report
