Is 25 amendment in affect?
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Executive summary
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment is fully ratified and part of the Constitution, providing the legal framework for presidential succession and temporary transfers of power since February 10, 1967 [1][2]. It is active now — regularly cited, occasionally used for short medical transfers under Section 3, but Section 4’s forced removal process has never been successfully invoked [1][3][4].
1. What "in effect" means and the Amendment’s legal status
The 25th Amendment was proposed by Congress in 1965 and ratified by the states in 1967, making it a binding constitutional amendment that clarifies succession and disability procedures for the presidency [1][5]. As a ratified amendment it is part of the Constitution and therefore "in effect" in the legal sense today [1][2].
2. How the Amendment works in practice — Sections 1–3 vs. Section 4
Sections 1 through 3 create a clear mechanism: Section 1 places the vice president as president if the president dies, resigns or is removed; Section 2 governs filling a vice-presidential vacancy; Section 3 allows the president to voluntarily transfer power temporarily to the vice president by written declaration [6][7]. Those voluntary transfers have happened multiple times — for scheduled medical procedures, presidents have temporarily designated their vice presidents to act as president, establishing an operational precedent [3][8].
3. Section 4’s special role and its historical non-use
Section 4 permits the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet (or another body Congress establishes) to declare the president unable to discharge duties, transferring authority to the vice president unless the president contests and Congress ultimately decides [7]. Despite intense debates at moments of crisis — notably after the Reagan shooting in 1981 when administration officials prepared papers, and after January 6, 2021 when some Cabinet members and lawmakers discussed Section 4 — Section 4 has never been successfully invoked to remove a sitting president [9][10][4].
4. Recent political pressure and partisan uses of the idea
Calls to use the 25th Amendment have surfaced as a political tool; for example, lawmakers publicly urged its use after the January 6 attack and some members of Congress called on Vice President Harris in 2024 to invoke Section 4 regarding President Biden — but public calls are not the same as formal invocation, and no Section 4 transfer followed those appeals [10][11]. Reporting and advocacy around such calls often reflect partisan objectives: invoking the amendment can be framed as a constitutional safeguard or as a political weapon depending on the speaker’s motive, and sources urging invocation frequently have political incentives to remove or embarrass an incumbent [11][10].
5. Operational uncertainties and judicial silence
Although Section 3’s voluntary transfers have set practical precedents, the Amendment contains unresolved legal and procedural questions — particularly about timing, documentation, and how Congress should adjudicate a contested Section 4 declaration — because Section 4 has never been litigated or fully operationalized in a contested, binding way in the courts [4][7]. Scholars and government offices have offered opinions on likely processes, but the absence of a tested Section 4 enforcement means some outcomes are legally speculative [4].
6. Bottom line: is the 25th Amendment "in effect" now?
Yes — the 25th Amendment is part of the Constitution and in force; it governs succession and temporary transfers of presidential power and has been used in limited, usually voluntary, circumstances [1][3]. However, the most dramatic tool in its text — Section 4’s involuntary removal for incapacity — remains unused in practice, making its application untested and politically fraught despite ongoing public debate and occasional partisan calls to employ it [4][10].