If Pence were to consider invoking the 25th Amendment, how would he do it?
Paul: The process has to be initiated by Pence and the cabinet. He would need to get a majority of the 14-member cabinet, including himself, to sign a letter declaring the president to be unfit to carry out the powers and duties of the office. A relevant technical point here: Scholarly precedent states that acting secretaries count in the cabinet decision to remove the presidnet.
If Pence does get that cabinet majority, the moment that he signs and transmits it to Congress, he becomes the acting president. The point I was making in my piece about a week ago is that given the timing of matters, Congress wouldn’t have to take any action to remove Trump for the remainder of his presidency.
At this point in the process, Trump would then send a letter disputing the claim that he’s unfit. Then Pence would have four days to transmit another letter saying “I continue to think the president is unfit.” Throughout all this, the VP remains the acting president. Congress would then have 21 days to decide the issue. But they could also do nothing, if a simple majority in the House or Senate refuses to take up the matter. So in this special circumstance, with 14 days remaining in Trump’s presidency, if Pence were to invoke the 25th, it is a fact that Pence could remove Trump for the rest of term.