Has the 25th amendment been invoked?

1. What “invoked” means under the 25th Amendment

The Amendment contains distinct procedures: Section 1 governs outright succession when a president dies, resigns or is removed; Section 2 permits nomination to fill a vacant vice presidency; Section 3 allows a president to voluntarily transfer power to the vice president temporarily; and Section 4 empowers the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet (or another congressional body) to declare the president unable to discharge duties — each section works differently and must be read separately when journalists talk about “invoking” the 25th ^{[4] [5]}.

2. Section 1 and Section 2: succession and filling vacancies — invoked and settled practice

Section 1’s core rule — that the vice president succeeds to the presidency on a president’s resignation or death — was practically codified by the amendment and has been applied when Richard Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford became president ^{[1] [2]}; Section 2 has also been used to fill vice presidential vacancies, most prominently when Gerald Ford first became vice president after Spiro Agnew’s resignation and later when Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller as vice president, demonstrating that succession and replacement mechanics under Sections 1 and 2 are established practice ^{[1] [2]}.

3. Section 3: routine, voluntary transfers for medical reasons

Section 3 has been used multiple times as presidents temporarily relinquished powers for medical procedures; for example, President George W. Bush formally invoked Section 3 before brief medical procedures, transferring authority to Vice President Dick Cheney during colonoscopies ^{[6] [7]}. Historical practice shows presidents have opted for orderly, temporary handoffs under Section 3 to ensure continuity, and the Congressional Record and Constitution Annotated list several brief, voluntary uses ^{[5] [7]}.

4. Section 4: the unprecedented removal mechanism that has never been used

The most politically fraught part of the amendment — Section 4, which would allow the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president incapacitated and make the vice president Acting President unless the president successfully contests that finding — has never been invoked in U.S. history, though it has been discussed at high-stakes moments (including after the 1981 Reagan assassination attempt, when administration officials prepared paperwork) and floated politically after January 6, 2021 and in later partisan calls; legal scholars and the Library of Congress note its nonuse and the constitutional and political complexities that surround any attempt to activate it ^{[8] [7] [3] [6]}.

5. Where public debate and calls to “invoke” have diverged from constitutional reality

Public and partisan calls for invocation — for instance in the aftermath of the January 6 Capitol attack when some lawmakers urged Vice President Pence to use Section 4, or recent demands from members of Congress to have Vice President Harris declare President Biden unable to serve — illustrate how political actors deploy the term “invoke” as a rallying cry; those demands have not translated into a formal Section 4 process being initiated, and scholars caution that Section 4’s procedural requirements and likely political resistance make it a high bar that explains why it remains unused ^{[6] [2] [9] [3]}.

6. Bottom line: a precise answer

Yes — parts of the 25th Amendment have been invoked: Sections 1 and 2 have been used to effect succession and fill vice presidential vacancies, and Section 3 has been used multiple times for temporary transfers during medical procedures — but Section 4, the removal-for-incapacity mechanism often cited in dramatic political debates, has never been invoked ^{[1] [2] [6] [3]}.