...
By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Journalist Scott McConnell, founding editor of The American Conservative magazine, has called on Vice President JD Vance to express his support for a transition of power based on the 25th Amendment.
“My advice to Vance: announce your support of [a] 25th amendment transition,” McConnell wrote on X on Sunday. “Say [Senator] Chris Murphy or similar will be veep. Announce you will NOT be a candidate in 2028. Use your position, access to the media to explain why this is necessary. Don’t resign,” he added.
In a follow-up post explaining his reason for picking Murphy, McConnell wrote, "An antiwar Democrat, smart and not super woke."
Read More on News
The 25th Amendment sets up the legal framework for a transfer of presidential power to the vice president if the president becomes incapacitated or unable to fulfil their duties, dies, resigns, or is removed from office by impeachment.
Media outlets have noted Vance has side-stepped giving a public votes of confidence in the war, as he did with the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.
- ESSENTIAL READING: Why Trump Is Suddenly Courting Putin’s Closest Ally
- What Donald Trump Gains From His Temporary TACO
Asked for his advice to Trump on Iran, he told reporters on March 13: “I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not going to show up here and, in front of God and everybody else, tell you exactly what I said in that classified room," referring to the Situation Room.
“Partially because I don’t want to go to prison, and partially because I think it’s important for the president of the United States to be able to talk to his advisers without those advisers running their mouth to the American media,” he continued.
According to a new POLITICO poll, conducted from March 13 to 18 by London-based Public First, 81 percent of self-identifying MAGA voters and 61 percent of non-MAGA voters who supported Trump’s return to power in 2024 backed the strikes on Iran last month. While most Republicans are holding steady to their faith in the president, only 43 percent of American voters supported the strikes, according to the same poll.
A majority of MAGA Republicans, 58 percent, surveyed said they believe the U.S. must achieve its goals in Iran even if it means more American lives are lost. That shrunk to 44 percent of non-MAGA Trump voters said the same, according to the poll.
The notion of Vance taking over has repeatedly bubbled up since President Donald Trump's return to the White House in January 2025, when, at the age of 78, he became the oldest person to assume office.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment by email on Monday morning.
...
What Does The 25th Amendment Say?
The 25th Amendment was drafted by Congress after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and ratified by 38 states in 1967. It was instituted to prepare for medical emergencies and incapacitation that could prevent a president from performing normal duties.
Section one of the amendment states, "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President."
Section four states that the vice president can become president whenever they, together with a majority of the Cabinet deem the president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."
The 25th Amendment sets a high threshold for replacing a president with the vice president and is widely regarded as a measure of last resort.
Donald Trump Has Faced 25th Amendement Calls Before
Democrats have called for section four of the 25th Amendment to be called on several occasions since Trump’s first term in the White House, including after the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
In August, California Rep. Maxine Waters called for the 25th Amendment against Trump after the president removed Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board, saying he stood to upend the U.S. economy.
...
“It is time to call for Article [Amendment] 25 of the Constitution of the United States of America to determine his unfitness, to determine that something’s wrong with this president. And I would suggest that we move very aggressively to talk about the danger to this country and to our democracy and not play around with this because this is absolutely one of the most destructive things that this president could do,” the California Democrat said during an appearance on MSNBC’s The Weeknight.
“This stands to basically upend the entire economy. This stands to really deal with what is going to happen on Wall Street, what’s going to happen with interest rates, what’s going to happen with the president of the United States being able to make decisions that he will personally benefit from,” Waters added.
In October, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat and vocal Trump critic, said that Trump’s decision to send troops to American cities as part of his immigration crackdown raised concerns over his mental fitness.
“Sending troops into cities, thinking that that’s some sort of proving ground for war, or that indeed there’s some sort of internal war going on in the United States is just, frankly, inane and I’m concerned for his health,” Pritzker said, comparing the president to Russia’s authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin.
"There is something genuinely wrong with this man, and the 25th Amendment ought to be invoked," Pritzker added.
In January, Democrats questioned the president’s mental fitness after he repeatedly suggested the U.S. takes over Greenland even against the will of those living on the island, with Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, calling Trump “mentally ill.”
“The president of the United States is extremely mentally ill and it’s putting all of our lives at risk. The 25th Amendment exists for a reason — we need to invoke it immediately,” she said in a social media post.
After the U.S. launched joint strikes with Israel on Iran in late February, sparking the ongoing war in the Middle East, Democrats once again raised concerns over the president’s mental fitness and capacity to lead the country, though Republicans have dismissed these worries.
Correction: 4/5/26, 1:10 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to state that the U.S. Capitol riot happened in 2021.
In a polarized era, the center is dismissed as bland. At Newsweek, ours is different: The Courageous Center—it's not "both sides," it's sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you.
When you become a Newsweek Member, you support a mission to keep the center strong and vibrant. Members enjoy: Ad-free browsing, exclusive content and editor conversations. Help keep the center courageous. Join today.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines