# What This Resolution Actually Calls For

This resolution is asking Vice President Mike Pence to take a dramatic step: gather the Cabinet members and invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office and make Pence the acting president. To understand what this means, you need to know what the 25th Amendment actually does.

The 25th Amendment is a constitutional rule created after President Kennedy's assassination to handle situations where a president can't do the job. Section 4 of this amendment allows the Vice President and a majority of Cabinet members to declare that the president is unable to perform his duties. If they do this, the Vice President becomes acting president and takes over running the country. The president can challenge this decision, but if two-thirds of both the House and Senate agree the president is unfit, the removal becomes permanent.

This particular resolution was introduced during the final days of Trump's presidency and calls on Pence to use this power. It's essentially asking Pence to lead an effort to temporarily (or potentially permanently) remove Trump from power. The resolution doesn't specify what reasons would justify this action—it just calls on Pence to make it happen. This is a highly unusual request because the 25th Amendment has rarely been used this way, and it represents one of the most dramatic constitutional powers available in American government. If passed, it would be a formal statement from Congress urging the Vice President to take action, though it wouldn't legally force him to do so.

Calling on Vice President Michael R. Pence to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President.

Raskin, Jamie

 <p> This resolution calls upon Vice President Michael R. Pence (1) to immediately use his powers under section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments to declare that the President is unable to successfully discharge the duties and powers of his office, and (2) to transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House notice that he will be immediately assuming the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.</p>