Mike Pence would back Donald Trump's removal via 25th amendment so he could take the job himself, claims new book
Vice President Mike Pence would support using the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump and take the job for himself, according to White House aides, a new book has claimed. The claim, which was made in the book 'The Warning' which was written by an anonymous Trump administration official, has been denied by Pence's camp.
Pence and a majority of the Cabinet, under the 25th Amendment, could declare the president incapacitated and unable to discharge his powers. The legislation would then allow Pence to become Acting President with all the "powers and duties" of the top job.
The law, however, allows the president to challenge the decision, setting up a constitutional stand-off in Congress where the House and Senate would ultimately have a final word on the issue.
The anonymous White House official is the same one who wrote an explosive op-ed for the New York Times in 2018, claiming to be "part of the resistance" inside Trump's White House.
The author, in the book, claims that the White House staff, in 2017, made a "back-of-the-envelope tally" of who would be willing to plot against Trump, according to HuffPost. The White House aides believed that Pence would sign off the procedure and take the acting presidency for himself, the book claims.
Pence's press secretary, Katie Waldman, shortly after the revelation, denounced the allegation on Wednesday night, calling it "fake news."
Rumors that the 25th Amendment could be used against Trump have been going around in Washington ever since he took office in early 2017. The amendment was used during Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush's time when they themselves triggered it briefly during medical emergencies.
The book claims that the White House staff had first discussed the matter in 2017 when former FBI director James Comey was terminated from his position.
Reports state that the aides, at the time, described Trump's behavior as "unhinged" and allegedly formulated a list of staff members who might agree to remove him. The book claims that there was "no doubts in the minds" of senior staff that Pence would support such a move.
The author, in their 2018 op-ed, wrote that "no one wanted to precipitate" a constitutional crisis. "We will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until one way or another it’s over."
President Trump had slammed the op-ed and called the piece "gutless" and a "disgrace."
"If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once," Trump had tweeted.