American Pamphleteer – 4/7/2026 – Everybody keeps saying invoke Section 4, but almost nobody knows what that actually means. Lady Libertie breaks down the complicated 25th Amendment.
In the last two weeks, Trump has done what he always does when power and crisis meet: he has turned national catastrophe into a grotesque little one-man show. He escalated the war with Iran by threatening to bomb bridges and power plants. He shrugged at warnings that this amounts to war crimes. ¹
Last night he said Iran could be “taken out in one night,” suggested that night might be tonight unless Tehran makes a deal.² Said Iranians should rise up against their government if a ceasefire is declared, even while acknowledging they could be shot for doing it. And expanded the threat to essentially all of Iran’s power infrastructure.³ He also mentioned that he might run for president of Venezuela after leaving office, because he would poll higher there than anyone ever has, and added, “I will quickly learn Spanish,” because he is “good at language.”⁴
At some point, this stops being “classic Trump chaos” and starts looking like a president who is profoundly losing his mental capabilities and shockingly unfit to be making life-and-death decisions for anybody—let alone the entire damn world.
And that is why the chatter is suddenly all about Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. The country is watching a dangerous man come more visibly apart in real time, and people want to know whether there is actually any mechanism for stopping him.
There is. But unfortunately, it is a nightmare to use.
If only it were the magic eject button we all long for
The Constitution does have a mechanism for a president who has become mentally incapacitated. What it does not have is a mechanism that works without elite defection. And that is the problem. That is always the problem.
The whole thing depends on the vice president, the Cabinet, and then Congress all working together and deciding that the danger is greater than the cost of acting. So you can already see how this will play out.
But what the hell, let’s game it out anyway.
How could the 25th Amendment, Section 4 be used? We start with—wait for it—the vice president and the Cabinet…
Day 1: His own people have to make the first move
Yes you heard that right, JD Vance and a majority of the Cabinet would have to trigger the 25th by sending a written declaration saying Trump is unable to do the job.
The second that happens, the vice president becomes Acting President. (yay?)
Ten minutes later: Trump says he is fine
But wait, the minute Trump sends little Stephen Miller powerwalking back down the hall to Vance’s office with a declaration saying there is no problem with his mental health, Trump’s back in control.
He does not have to prove it…
He does not have to pass a test…
He just says it. ⁵
Next 4 days: The test of courage for our cowardly leaders
The vice president and Cabinet have four days to say it again.
If they send a second declaration, then Congress has to get involved. Now the crisis moves from the White House to Capitol Hill. Congress is now on the hook to decide whether our Dear Leader is mentally incapacitated. That means all our members of Congress must reconvene from wherever they were spring breaking while the country was twisting in the wind, and over the next 21 days determine whether the president is actually unable to do the job.
To keep Trump out of power, it takes two thirds of both the House and Senate to vote against him.
Two thirds.
In this country.
In this political climate.Good luck.
The bitter truth
The Constitution does contain a mechanism for a president who has become mentally incapacitated or otherwise unable to do the job.
But the mechanism is designed so that the people closest to him have to act first.
That means the biggest obstacle is not usually legal.
It is political.
It is personal.
It is institutional cowardice.Section 4 is not a panic button. It exists in theory. But in practice, it depends on a chain of careerists, flatterers, and cowards doing the one thing they have built their entire lives around avoiding.
—Lady Libertie
For the entire letter and links to outside articles: https://open.substack.com/pub/ladylibertie/p/can-the-25th-amendment-remove-a-president?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email