Regardless of who wins the 2020 presidential election, the US will officially have the oldest person to ever begin a term as president. While advanced age does not mean an individual is unfit to govern, there are physical and mental maladies that afflict older individuals with greater frequency and the office of president is a rigorous job. There have been rumblings of invoking the 25th amendment from opponents of Donald Trump before he took office and similar rumblings beginning from opponents of Joe Biden now. Both groups generally cite mental health issues. My question is NOT about the validity of any of the claims of unfitness or who is saying what and why. What I would like to understand more clearly is the process that would take place if an elected president maintains that they are fit for office, but the general consensus among members of congress is that they are not. To unseat a president who is determined to stay would require the use of Section 4 of the 25th amendment, which states:
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
The VP is obviously essential to the process. The next part is where I have a question because it is an 'either...or' clause. Nearly everything I have read suggests that the cabinet would have to side with the VP before congress would be involved, but the language in the constitution seems to suggest that congress could act in concert with the VP, without regard to the disposition of the cabinet. One comment on an answer to this question reads it that way. These are my questions about the rules and the process:
- If the president's cabinet sides with the president, could the VP and congress convene some 'other body' to make a determination of fitness and by what laws is that body bound?
- Since congress makes the laws, could they pass new laws in the moment that would allow them to convene a group of people willing to declare the president unfit at their behest?
- Does the VP/Congress have to provide a specific reason with clear evidence or can they simply declare the president unfit and have the VP take over?
- If congress has a 2/3 majority vote subsequent to the 'written declaration', is there any appeal option for the president or does the VP become the president for the current term?