At the same time, however, writes Sky News, the US president “faced a chorus” of Republicans arguing that he should immediately resign from the presidency.
For example, those calling for Biden to resign immediately include Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and senior Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.
“If Joe Biden is unable to run for re-election, he is unfit and unfit to serve as President of the United States,” Stefanik said, “he should resign immediately.”
At the same time, Biden’s opponents recalled the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution.
“Whenever the President is unable to perform his duties for any reason, the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution can be invoked,” Sky News writes.
However, a president who knows he is unable to perform the duties of his office must notify Congress. In this case, the vice president becomes acting president.
So far, the 25th Amendment has never been invoked in American history, but what happens if the president is unable to fulfill his duties but fails to transfer power to his deputy?
The fourth section of the amendment states that in this case the vice president and most of the Cabinet would have to declare the president unfit to lead. They then send a letter to the speaker of the House and the president pro tempore, the second-highest ranking official in the Senate, informing them of the situation. And after that the vice president becomes acting president.
There is also the possibility of impeachment to remove the current head of state, but only theoretically. So, despite their efforts to achieve this, the Republicans have already failed in this matter once and “it is not known whether they will be able to revive such an initiative,” writes Sky News.
